MANILA – Basketball fans will see a possible match up between the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the recent Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) draft when Burger King (BK) and Purefoods TJ Giants tangle at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.

No. 1 pick Japeth Aguilar will be making his pro debut as a Whopper when BK clashes with Purefoods TJ Giants and its No. 2 pick, Rico Maierhofer, in the opening game of the 2009-2010 KFC PBA Philippine Cup wars.

According to PBA.ph, game time will be at 6:30 p.m. following an opening ceremony that will feature Hall of Famers Robert Jaworski, Atoy Co, Philip Cezar and Manny Paner as special guests.

Aguilar has officially signed up with the Whoppers, ending a conflict with the PBA that stemmed from his decision to join the Smart-Gilas team.

“Japeth joined us in practice (Saturday). Okay na naman sya dahil hindi sya total stranger sa sistema ko. We’ll see tomorrow. Gagamitin namin sya hanggang makakatulong s’ya sa team,” said BK coach Yeng Guiao.

Guiao expects a tough game against Purefoods which he considers among the stronger teams in the tournament.

“Isa sila sa may magandang build-up for the coming season. Medyo nagkakapaan sila during the off-season. But I expect them to start to pick up. They surely want to prove their worth,” said Guiao.

Purefoods underwent major changes, scoring Maierhofer and Chris Timberlake from the Annual Draft. The Giants also reacquired the services of Marc Pingris and Paul Artadi in a trade deal involving Rafi Reavis.

“We are excited to play our first game. We’ll get to see whether our off-season wheeling and dealing made our roster more exciting and competitive,” said Purefoods mentor Ryan Gregorio.

Completing Purefoods’ line up are James Yap, Kerby Raymundo, Peter June Simon, Nino Canaleta, Romel Adducul, Jonathan Fernandez, Roger Yap, Don Allado and Jondan Salvador.

BK also built up its squad, securing the services of Chico Lanete, Ronjay Buenafe, Orlando Daroya, Ronnie Matias and Richard Yee.

Gone is former star Arwind Santos, which leaves Egay Billones, Erick Rodriguez, Aaron Aban, Wynne Arboleda, Gary David, Mark Yee, Beau Belga, Carlo Sharma and JR Quinahan as the original members of the team that ended seventh in the last all-Filipino competition.