The Spurs face adifficult road going from good core to great team
The tradethat netted San Antonio DeMar DeRozanassuredthemof relevance but might prevent them from true contention.
从优秀的核心球员到伟大的球队——马刺面临的艰难路
得到德罗赞的交易让马刺有了一定的竞争力，但也可能让他们从此远离总冠军的竞争。
The Kawhi Leonard saga has mercifully ended andDeMar DeRozanisnow a Spur. With his addition, San Antonio should remain in the playoff hunt,securing theSpurs’ run of relevance for the foreseeablefuture.
真庆幸卡哇伊的闹剧终于结束了，德罗赞现在成为了马刺新的一员。随着德罗赞的加入，圣城仍是季后赛的竞争者，并在可预见的未来与马刺的命运息息相关。
Yet it’s hard to get too excited about this new iteration. Itsceiling appears relatively low and it might already have an expiration date.The Spurs might be stuck being good-but-not-great, with no recourse to upgradetheir roster.
然而，这场交易造成的人员更迭算不上令人兴奋。马刺的上限已经相对降低了，并且可能已经大限已到。没有顶级球员的加盟，马刺可能从此由一个伟大的球队堕落为一个好的球队。
The play to stay relevant cost San Antonio cap flexibility. Theycould have had room to add a max deal in the summer of 2019 had they not takenback a ton of long term money inDeMar DeRozan.Even with Gay off the books and Gasol’s non-guaranteed contract, they will fallsignificantly short of max room. They will have two draft picks they couldattach toPatty Mills’ and Gasol’s contracts totry to shed them, but doing so would deplete the coffers right as the team ispreparing to get younger. It would also need to be done before the draft,before the Spurs could get an assurance from a star that they are in factsigning.
球队以工资帽的灵活性为代价，尽量保持竞争力。如果没有德罗赞的超长合同，马刺本可能在19年夏天有空间再吃下一个顶薪球员的。不算盖伊的合同和大加的非保障合同，马刺也没有顶薪空间了。马刺将有两个选秀权可以用来打包米尔斯和大加的合同交易出去，但这样会耗尽球队的资本，尤其在球队正在试图年轻化。做这事有两个时机，一是抽签前；二是得到明星球员签约保证后在签约前。
The Spurs are not a free agent hotspot, so it’s understandablefor them to prioritize getting a quality player instead of preserving capspace. There’s a case to be made that teams create cap room in the hopes oflanding someone like DeRozan, although considering his salary and his strugglesin the postseason, it’s not as easy to make as some would like to pretend.There simply was an opportunity cost to the Spurs’ decision. They got theirguy, but in doing so they made it exponentially harder to land a better star infree agency or to put better talent around him. DeRozan is their guy now, forbetter or for worse, and this is the team’s core for the next two years.
马刺并不是自由球员热衷投奔的地方，因此能够理解管理层优先得到优质球员，而非保证薪资空间。球队创造薪资空间以期望德罗赞之类的球员加盟（考虑到他季后赛挣扎的表现和薪资）这种事并不像看上去那么容易。马刺的决定会带来一个机会。他们得到了他们想要的人，但同时更难签到一个更好的明星自由球员，或换取更好的天赋球员。德罗赞现在是马刺一员了，不论好坏，他都是今后两年马刺的核心球员。
In all likelihood, the Spurs will make an upgrade next summer,but will carry a similar roster into the 2019/20 season. After the 2019/20season, the Spurs could regain a lot of flexibility, but only at the expense oftheir core. The last year ofLaMarcus Aldridge’contract is only partially guaranteed, which means he could be waived and only$7 million would count against the Spurs’ cap. DeRozan has a player option thathe’s likely to turn down. He’ll have the requisite 10 years of experience to beeligible for the highest tier of max contracts and at age 31, he’ll likely wantto secure one last big long term contract as soon as he’s able. In short, theclock is ticking for theAldridge-DeRozan pairing.
十有八九，马刺明年将会升级，但19/20赛季的人员不会有大的变动。19/20赛季后，马刺的可操作空间就大了，但这可能会涉及到核心球员的交易。阿德上赛季的合同是部分保障的，这意味着如果交易出阿德马刺的工资帽只有$7M的损失。德罗赞有球员选项，那年他很可能会不执行合同，届时他31岁，并有资格拿到顶薪，他将很可能尽可能的签一个长期合同。总之，阿德和德罗赞的搭档已经开始倒计时了。
With the Spurs not likely to make a serious addition to thisroster via free agency, they’ll have to be aggressive in the trade market.Unfortunately, they currently lack the type of pieces necessary to swing atrade for another star. There is no severely underpaid role player on a multi-yeardeal; no young player with unquestionable star potential; no unprotected extradraft pick that could potentially land in the top five. Not even the Spurs’ ownstars carry as much value as others, as Aldridge is near the end of his primeand DeRozan is a throwback that has struggled to deliver as a first option. Alot of teams could beat any package the Spurs could reasonably offer for anydisgruntled star.
马刺不太可能有大牌自由球员加盟，因此不得不积极投身于交易市场。不幸的是马刺现在没有资本去交易来另一个明星球员。马刺没即有真正意义上的有多年高性价比合同的球员，选秀中也没有前五的非保护签。甚至马刺的球星也不比其他球星更有价值，阿德已是巅峰末段，德罗赞退化的不敢进攻（常常选择传球）。对于那些决心离队的球星，大多数球队都能给出比马刺更好的报价。
The lack of trade assets is what makes it easy to question the
decision to reject deals centered around draft picks. Even if using those extra
selections to rebuild wasn’t an option, they could have come in handy in
transactions. First-rounders have a lot of trade value, as they result in
multi-year cost-controlled contracts for young players. They also carry no
monetary value on trades, which means they can be easily tacked on to offers in
a way that players under contract can’t. The Spurs secured a top 30 player but
doing so hurt their chances of getting a top 10 player via trade. If,
say, Anthony Davissuddenly becomesavailable, the Spurs would have had a better chance of landing him with atreasure trove of picks than they do with DeRozan in tow.
缺乏交易资本使得人们更容易质疑管理层为何不围绕选秀签作交易。即使不能用选秀球员来进行球队重建，但也能用新秀来交易啊。首轮新秀还是有很大交易价值的，因为新秀有多年的价格保护合同啊。并且新秀在交易中不作价，也就是说可以很容易地用来增加交易报价，而合同在身的球员不能这样用。马刺能够得到一个前30的选秀签，但要交换到前10的签位要付出很大代价。假如马刺突然有机会得到安东尼戴维斯，一个高位的选秀签比用德罗赞做交易更有价值。
If the only valid goal is to build a championship-level roster,
this move has made it harder for the Spurs. It’s hard to argue the opposite and
necessary to adjust the expectations for this iteration accordingly.
Fortunately, not all is lost. The Spurs have done a terrific job of keeping all
their future first rounders under their control and they have received a
heavily protected extra one from the Raptors. The coffers are not bare. There mightnot be great value contracts on the roster, but there are also not terribleones. The Spurs might not have the assets or the flexibility to land a toptalent, but neither did Toronto. Unforeseen circumstances could still help SanAntonio land a superstar.
如果马刺唯一的目的是打造一个能竞争总冠军的球队，这次交易让马刺距该目标越来越远。（由于小卡的闹腾）很难评判这次交易是否符合预期。幸运的是，马刺没有白白放走小卡。马刺管理层能掌控将未来的首发球员已经很不易了，更何况他们还从猛龙得到一个忠心耿耿的德罗赞。手中有粮，心中不慌。他们虽然不是伟大的球员，但也不差。马刺没有资本和空间去签一个顶级天赋球员了，猛龙也是这样。希望马刺能碰上狗屎运再得到一个超级明星吧。
A safer bet for improvement might be internal development. If
Dejounte Murray improves his shot and his playmaking instincts, he could
singlehandedly raise the team’s ceiling. Poeltl, Derrick White and Lonnie Walker could
all become rotation players. DavisBertansseemspoised to become a reliable two-way force. A team-wide improvement from beyondthe three-point line alone could put the Spurs in the mix for homecourtadvantage in the first round. Then there’s DeRozan. Most 29-year-olds arefinished products, but he’s found a way to evolve year to year, becoming abetter playmaker and a foul magnet. Last season he started takingthree-pointer. Maybe this season he starts making them.
提升球队实例更靠谱的方法可能是内部开发吧。如果穆雷能提高投射和组织能力，他将提升球队的上限。怀特，郎尼沃克等人都能成为轮转球员。贝尔坦斯在攻防两端还比较可靠。如果球队整体的三分能够提升下，马刺可能在季后赛首轮还能混个主场优势。德罗赞，29了，已经定型了，但他仍能逐年进化，希望他能更好的创造机会并控制犯规吧，上赛季他开始投三分了，希望这赛季能开发出来吧。
The Spurs’ immediate future doesn’t appear to be as bright as itwould have been with Leonard. Their flexibility is severely reduced compared tohow great it could have been had they decided to target draft picks instead ofan expensive star in a trade. No matter how anyone wants to spin it, SanAntonio has taken a step backwards after The Summer of Kawhi.
没有了卡哇伊，马刺眼前的未来不再光芒万丈了。球队可操作的灵活性也不如交易到选秀签，而不是得到高价球星。不论多想能再重来，这个夏天的卡哇伊让马刺大退步了。
Fortunately, that doesn’t mean they’re in a terrible position.The Spurs won’t likely contend for the next couple of years, not with thiscore. But they should be relevant. It appears that was the thinking behind theDeRozan acquisition and it’s certainly valid. The front office was willing tosacrifice some potential opportunities for greatness to make it happen.
还好，马刺退步的还不是太糟糕。以目前的核心球员，马刺近几年没太大的竞争力了。但这应该也是有意义的。可能管理层在得到德罗赞后仍有想法吧，但这个交易肯定是有价值的，不然管理层不会牺牲一些潜在更好的机会（选秀签？）让这桩交易发生。
Considering how precarious their position was at the start ofthe summer, it’s hard to call DeRozan and 45+ wins a bad result, even for thoseof us who wished they had gone another way.
想想夏天刚开始时马刺的情况有多糟糕吧，虽然我们不想球队走这条路，但也不能说德罗赞和45+的胜场是一个坏的结果。