By Eric.Fritts | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-08-08 20:27:22
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
随着休赛期自由球员市场尘埃落定，劳里·马尔卡宁 (Lauri Markkanen)成为了休赛期最大的交易目标。为什么与马刺或其他任何球队都无法达成协议？
整个夏天，关于犹他爵士队及其芬兰前锋劳里·马尔卡宁的交易谈判和传闻甚嚣尘上。这位极具活力的进攻球员曾入选过全明星，并荣膺 2023 年进步最快球员，受到了多支球队的追捧，其中包括圣安东尼奥马刺队。据 ESPN 报道，马刺队已与爵士队进行了“初步讨论”。
马尔卡宁在上赛季三分球命中率高达 39.9%，场均贡献 23.2 分和 8.2 个篮板，如果能加盟马刺，他将成为维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 身边理想的搭档。马尔卡宁的身高也达到了 7 英尺（约 2.13 米），是另一位技术全面、打法类似于文班的内线球员。考虑到马刺队上赛季让文班亚马打五号位取得了成功，如果让马尔卡宁出任大前锋与之搭档，球队将拥有一套罕见的“高塔”阵容。也就是说，这支球队虽然身高臂长，但却能够像小球阵容一样快速、灵活地奔跑和比赛，并且具备出色的投射能力。
这就是马刺队为何对马尔卡宁感兴趣的原因，许多球迷也对此议论纷纷，甚至公开支持这笔交易。然而，当马尔卡宁在 8 月 6 日与爵士队续约后，马刺队和其他有意向的球队都感到失望。根据劳资协议的规定，球员在续约后六个月内不得被交易，因此马尔卡宁在本赛季已经不可能被交易。2025 年的交易截止日期是 2 月 6 日，正好是马尔卡宁续约六个月之后。
既然关于马尔卡宁的交易传闻如此之多，为什么最终没有达成任何协议呢？如果马刺队没有给出爵士队想要的筹码，那么还有其他球队能做到吗？据报道，金州勇士队 在交易谈判中最积极主动，萨克拉门托国王队也表现出兴趣，但最终选择了德玛尔·德罗赞 (DeMar DeRozan)。
那么，为什么没有发生任何交易呢？
丹尼·安吉想要一份无法拒绝的报价
众所周知，现任爵士队总经理、前 凯尔特人队 高管丹尼·安吉 (Danny Ainge) 一直是一位强硬的谈判者。他明确表示，他只会做对自己有利的交易，甚至会彻底压榨对方球队。他是当年为凯尔特人队引进雷·阿伦 (Ray Allen) 和凯文·加内特 (Kevin Garnett) 的幕后推手，然后又将他们交易出去，换来了最终成长为杰森·塔图姆 (Jayson Tatum) 和杰伦·布朗 (Jaylen Brown) 的选秀权。
对于马尔卡宁，安吉可能想要得到比马刺队或其他任何球队都愿意提供的更多的东西。《The Athletic》的托尼·琼斯 (Tony Jones) 表示，唯一能让爵士队动心的报价，必须是一份让他们无法拒绝的压倒性报价。如果以休赛期早些时候米卡尔·布里奇斯 (Mikal Bridges) 与 纽约尼克斯队 的交易作为市场参考，这意味着大约需要五个首轮签和一到两名优秀的球员。圣安东尼奥马刺队拥有这些选秀权，但他们愿意送出德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 和杰里米·索汉 (Jeremy Sochan)，或者两者都加上那些选秀权吗？可能不会。
他们不想交易他
考虑到丹尼·安吉强硬的谈判风格，报价之所以需要如此之高，甚至高到离谱，或许是因为爵士队根本就不想交易马尔卡宁。乍一看，铺天盖地的传闻可能让球迷们相信爵士队正在兜售马尔卡宁——无风不起浪——但他们从来没有这样做过。他们只是在接听电话，倾听报价。寻找交易和仅仅听取报价之间有很大的区别。据琼斯、沙姆斯·查拉尼亚 (Shams Charania) 和安东尼·斯莱特 (Anthony Slater) 在 《The Athletic》 上的报道，“其他球队的高管都知道，爵士队唯一会考虑交易的情况是，他们收到了无法拒绝的报价。”
马尔卡宁喜欢犹他
最后，也许也是前两个原因的基础是，劳里·马尔卡宁不想离开犹他，而考虑到爵士队的情况，这一点也有一定的分量。与圣安东尼奥类似，盐湖城并不是一个大市场，但与马刺队不同的是，爵士队没有马刺队那样的历史底蕴，这使得他们更难吸引明星球员。如果爵士队拥有一位公开表达过自己对球队喜爱之情的球星，那么这样的球员是很难找到，也很难放弃的。至少就目前而言，我们不能责怪爵士队想要留住这位球员。
马尔卡宁续约的时机也再次证明了这一点。他的续约至少平息了整个赛季的各种传闻，并告诉所有人，他目前只想在盐湖城打球。
未来展望
犹他将因为没有交易马尔卡宁而受到一些批评。反对留下马尔卡宁的理由是，这可能会让爵士队陷入尴尬的境地。他们的实力不足以获得高顺位选秀权，也不足以打入季后赛。虽然这可能是事实，但值得注意的是，在 NBA，一年既可以是永恒，也可以是瞬间。马尔卡宁在本赛季被锁定，但一年后，一切可能都会改变。安吉可能会更加看好年轻球员，更愿意进行交易，马尔卡宁也可能想要去一支更有机会争夺总冠军的球队，谁知道呢？但就目前而言，尘埃落定，马尔卡宁在短期内不会来圣安东尼奥了。
点击查看原文：Why a Lauri Markkanen trade never happened
Why a Lauri Markkanen trade never happened
Lauri Markkanen was the biggest off season trade target after the free-agency dust settled. Why couldn’t a deal get done with the Spurs or anyone else?
Trade talks and rumors loomed over the Utah Jazz and their Finnish forward, Lauri Markkanen, all summer. The dynamic offensive player, a one-time All-Star and 2023 Most Improved Player was highly sought after by a number of teams, including the San Antonio Spurs, who engaged in “preliminary discussions” with the Jazz per ESPN.
Markkanen, who shot .399 from three last season and averaged 23.2 points with 8.2 rebounds, would have been an ideal fit next to a growing Victor Wembanyama. Listed at seven feet even, he is another big that plays like a versatile wing, similar to Wembanyama. With the Spurs finding success with Wembanyama at the five last season, pairing Markkanen next to him in the power forward spot would have given them a rare tall-ball lineup. That is, a group that has size but can run and play with the dynamics, and shooting of a team playing small-ball.
Thus why the Spurs made the call for Markkanen and many fans were intrigued if not outright rooting for a deal. However, the Spurs and other teams in the market were all met with disappointment when Markkanen signed his extension with the Jazz on August 6th. This eliminated any chance of a deal getting done this season due to CBA restrictions that place a six-month trade hold on a player after a contract extension. The 2025 trade deadline is February 6th, exactly six months from the date of Markkenan’s extension.
For all the murmurs, buzz, and speculation about a Markkanen trade, why didn’t any deal get done? If the Spurs didn’t have the deal Utah wanted, did anybody? The Golden State Warriors were reportedly the most aggressive in trade talks, plus the Sacramento Kings showed interest before ultimately dealing for DeMar DeRozan.
So why didn’t any trade happen?
Danny Ainge wanted a Godfather offer
Famously, current Jazz and former Celtics executive Danny Ainge always has been a tough negotiator. He’s made it clear that he only makes trades where he comes out on top, if not totally fleecing the other team. He was the executive that landed the Celtics Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, and then traded them both away for picks that eventually turned into Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
For Markkanen, he was probably going to want more than the Spurs or anyone else was willing to offer. According to Tony Jones of The Athletic, the only offer that was going to move the needle for Utah was something so overwhelming it would force the Jazz to consider it. If the Mikal Bridges-New York Knicks trade earlier this offseason is any market indicator, that means somewhere in the vicinity of five first-round picks and one or two good players. San Antonio has the picks, but were they willing to part with Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, or both along with those picks? Probably not.
They didn’t want to trade him
In line with Danny Ainge’s hardball negotiating, the offer needed to be that much, perhaps too much, purely because the Jazz weren’t all that interested in trading him. At first glance, the rumor mill might have had fans believing that the Jazz were shopping Markkanen — where there’s smoke there’s fire — but they never were. They were merely accepting calls, and listening to offers. There is a big difference between looking for a deal and just hearing out what offers are out there. Per Jones, Shams Charania, and Anthony Slater of The Athletic, “rival executives understood the only way Utah would consider a proposal was if it was overwhelming.”
Markkanen likes it in Utah
Finally, and perhaps the reason that informed the previous two, is that Lauri Markkanen didn’t want to leave Utah, and that carries some weight when considering the Jazz as a franchise. Much like San Antonio, Salt Lake City isn’t a large market, but unlike San Antonio, the Jazz don’t have the historical pedigree that the Spurs do, making it even more difficult to draw in star players. If the Jazz have a star player who has openly expressed how much he likes it there, that isn’t exactly easy to find or easy to part with. The organization can’t be blamed for wanting to hold on to that guy, at least for the time being.
This is then reasserted with his timing when signing the contract extension. His being unavailable quells any and all rumors for at least one full season and tells everyone that he just wants to hoop in Salt Lake City for now.
Down the road
Utah will endure some criticism for not trading him. The argument against keeping Markkanen would be that it could leave the Jazz stuck in the middle. Not bad enough to land high lottery picks but not good enough to make playoff runs. And while that could be true, it’s notable that one year in the NBA can be both forever and a moment. Markkanen is locked into a deal for this season, but a year from now, everything could be different. Ainge could see more potential in a youth movement and be more willing to deal, Markkanen may want a better chance to play for a championship, who knows? For now though, the dust has settled and Markkanen won’t be coming to San Antonio anytime soon.
By Eric.Fritts, via Pounding The Rock