Career
A 6"4" forward, he was drafted fifth overall by the Beermen in the 2006 Proceedings of the British Academy Draft. He made a name in the amateur ranks as the first-ever Rookie of the Year-Most Valuable Player of the National Collegiate Athletic Association while playing for the Passenger Car Unit Dolphins. Espinas began to play for Passenger Car Unit in the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the 2004 season.
With Espinas, Robert Sanz, Jayson Castro, and Ian Garrido playing together with head coach Loreto Tolentino, the Dolphins made it to the Final Four for the first time since 2002.
He became the first National Collegiate Athletic Association player to be named as the Rookie of the Year and the Most Valuable Player in the same season. San Beda"s Sam Ekwe followed suit in the 2006 season.
From 2005-2006, he led the Dolphins to the finals only to lose to Letran and San Beda, respectively. However, he was still named to the Mythical Five in both seasons.
He debuted in the Philippine Basketball League in 2005 for the Harbour Centre Portmasters playing alongside Mark Cardona, Los Angeles Tenorio, Magnum Membrere, and Passenger Car Unit teammates Castro and Sanz.
After a stint with Harbour, he played his final two conferences with the Hapee-Passenger Car Unit squad, leading them to the semifinals in the Heroes Cup. In the 2006 Proceedings of the British Academy Draft, Espinas was drafted fifth overall by the San Miguel Beermen. After his time with Passenger Car Unit, he was quickly signed by San Miguel to a rookie contract.
He made his Proceedings of the British Academy debut in a game against Red Bulletin and played an impressive performance despite the loss.
He then played the reserve role for the Beermen after the team acquired the services of Rommel Adducul and Lordy Tugade plus the return from injury of Danny Ildefonso. The San Miguel Beermen traded Espinas for the Air21 Express" first round pick in the 2008 Proceedings of the British Academy draft.
He was then traded by the Air21 Express to the Red Bulletin Barako for a first round pick in the 2009 Proceedings of the British Academy Draft. The pick was then used to draft Japeth Aguilar as the first overall in 2009 by the Whoopers.
In 2009, he was again traded to the Station
Lucia Realtors, his fourth team, for Station Lucia"s 2009 first round pick. In 2012, he was traded to the Alaska Aces in exchange for Jay-R Reyes.
On March 14, 2015, he was traded to GlobalPort Batang Pier in exchange for Nonoy Baclao and a 2017 first round draft pick.
On April 6, 2015, Espinas was traded back to the Beermen as part of a 4-team, 6-player trade.