By August Bembel | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-09-13 02:11:51
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。
这笔交易是马刺队有史以来最大手笔的投资，但它很快就会变得物超所值。
当德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)在上个休赛期签下他的新秀续约合同时，有些人对这笔交易的价值表示怀疑。这份为期五年、价值 1.35 亿美元的保障合同，不仅让马刺队最近几份新秀续约合同相形见绌——德章泰·穆雷(Dejounte Murray)在 2019 年签下了一份四年 6400 万美元的合同，德里克·怀特(Derrick White)在 2020 年签下了一份四年 7300 万美元的合同，凯尔登·约翰逊(Keldon Johnson)在 2022 年签下了一份四年 8000 万美元的合同。瓦塞尔的这笔交易是自 2014 年科怀·伦纳德(Kawhi Leonard)签下 9400 万美元的合同以来，马刺队首次开出五年新秀续约合同。事实上，这也是马刺队史上的最大合同。
表示怀疑的不仅仅是马刺队的球迷。就连 ESPN 的扎克·洛维(Zach Lowe)也持怀疑态度，尽管他曾多次表达过对瓦塞尔的欣赏，并在最近自称是“德文·瓦塞尔太棒了，他有可能成为超级巨星球迷俱乐部的会长”。然而，在本周一的 Lowe Post 播客节目中，他回忆起自己对瓦塞尔续约的最初反应：
我永远不会忘记去年去看尼克斯队的一场季前赛，就在德文·瓦塞尔签下续约合同的当天，或者说消息传出的那天，我在热身的时候和场边的一些人聊天。令我惊讶的是，和我聊天的几个人中，有几个说：“你知道吗，如果他打完这个赛季，他本可以得到更多。”我说：“哥们，你说什么？[…] 他上赛季缺席了一半的比赛。他从来没有在一支优秀的球队打过球。[…] 如果我是德文，我会想，‘我在哪里签下 1.35 亿美元？我现在可以和维克多一起打球了。’”
虽然洛维，正如人们对他这样一位顶级分析师的期望那样，肯定提出了一些合理的观点，但瓦塞尔在他的续约合同之后打出了他职业生涯中最好的一个赛季。尽管他在比赛中存在着状态不稳定的问题，而且他仍然不是很多人期望他从大学毕业后就能成为的那种防守者，但他在进攻端表现出了显著的进步。他成长为一名三级得分手，同时他的真实命中率也创下了职业生涯新高的 58%。作为一名二传手，他也取得了进步，助攻率达到 19%，创下职业生涯新高。考虑到他最近刚满 24 岁，现在就说德文已经达到了他的上限还为时过早。他仍然是一名处于巅峰期之前的球员，而且他可能还会再过两年才会达到巅峰。
在即将到来的赛季，当他的续约合同生效时，马刺队将向瓦塞尔支付超过 2900 万美元的薪水——这比他们为任何一名球员支付的单赛季薪水都要高。(到目前为止，马刺队历史上单赛季收入最高的球员是德玛尔·德罗赞(DeMar Derozan)，他在效力马刺队的三个赛季中，每个赛季的收入都接近 2800 万美元。)德文是否会从一开始就值这么多钱还有待观察，但让我们客观地看待这个问题，看看德文的薪水将占到Real GM预计的工资帽的多少(数字四舍五入到百万位)：
- 在即将到来的赛季中，工资帽设定为 1.41 亿美元 ，其中瓦塞尔 2900 万美元 的薪水占 20% 。好消息是：这个比例将从此下降。
- 2025-26 赛季，预计工资帽为 1.55 亿美元 ，马刺队将向瓦塞尔支付 2700 万美元 ——占预计工资帽的 17% 。2026-27 赛季，他的薪水保持不变，但由于预计工资帽将提高到 1.7 亿美元 ，届时瓦塞尔的薪水将只占工资帽的 16% 。
- 在维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)有望进入新秀续约合同第一年的那个赛季，情况看起来会更好。2027-28 赛季，预计工资帽为 1.88 亿美元 。马刺队将在那个赛季向瓦塞尔支付 2500 万美元 ，仅占工资帽的 13% 。在瓦塞尔现行合同的最后一年，也就是之后的一个赛季，这个比例将 保持不变 ，他将获得 2700 万美元 (预计 2028-29 赛季工资帽： 2.06 亿美元 )。
考虑到所有因素，马刺队应该在瓦塞尔合同的最后两年进入争冠模式。到那时，他将进入他的巅峰期，并有希望成为很多人认为他能成为的那样：一名攻防兼备的二当家或三当家。一个很好的目标，也是一个并非不切实际的比较对象，可能是雄鹿队在 2021 年赢得总冠军时克里斯·米德尔顿(Khris Middleton)的角色。米德尔顿在那一年从雄鹿队那里获得了 3300 万美元的薪水，大约是当时工资帽的 三分之一 。而从 2027 年开始，德文的薪水将大约是工资帽的 八分之一 。还不错，是吗？
一个更近的比较对象是弗朗茨·瓦格纳(Franz Wagner)。这位德国球员在本休赛期签署了一份最高价值 2.24 亿美元(如果他获得超级顶薪资格，则为 2.7 亿美元)的新秀顶薪续约合同。瓦格纳在他职业生涯的第三年可能比瓦塞尔在他的第三年表现得更好。他的上限也可能更高。但他的价值真的比瓦塞尔高出 8900 万美元吗？或者更多？至少这是非常值得怀疑的。
此外，魔术队在下个休赛期很难向保罗·班凯罗(Paolo Banchero)提供一份低于瓦格纳的合同。两年后，他们的工资单上可能会出现两名顶薪球员——而且没有明确的核心球员。相比之下，马刺队拥有维克托·文班亚马这样一位明确的核心球员。但同样的顶薪合同规则也适用于他，就像适用于任何其他球员一样。
如果这四名球员都能保持健康并持续进步，那么到 2027 年，当文班亚马获得顶薪合同时，任何一位总经理都会愿意用瓦格纳和班凯罗交换文班亚马和瓦塞尔。不过，直接交易是不可能的，因为文班亚马和瓦塞尔的总薪水可能会远远低于瓦格纳和班凯罗。马刺队很幸运地得到了这位法国天才，而且到目前为止，他们在工资帽方面对他的运作看起来非常出色。
点击查看原文：Why Devin Vassell’s contract could be one of the best in the league
Why Devin Vassell’s contract could be one of the best in the league
It’s the biggest deal the Spurs have ever forked out, but it should soon look very good.
When Devin Vassell signed his rookie contract extension last offseason, some eyebrows were raised as to the worth of the deal. A guaranteed $135 million dollars over five years didn’t just let the Spur’s more recent rookie scale contract extensions pale in comparison — Dejounte Murray signed for $64 million over four years in 2019, Derrick White for $73 over four years in 2020, and Keldon Johnson for $80 over four years in 2022. The Vassell deal was the first time the Spurs handed out a five-year rookie contract extension since Kawhi Leonard’s $94-million contract in 2014. In fact, it’s the biggest contract in Spurs history.
Eyebrows weren’t only raised among Spurs fans. Even ESPN’s Zach Lowe, who has repeatedly stated his admiration for Vassell and recently referred to himself as “The president of the Devin Vassell is awesome, potentially awesome fan club,” was not a fan. However, in Monday’s episode of his Lowe Post podcast, he recalled his initial reaction to Vassell’s extension:
I’ll never forget going to a Knicks preseason game last year and just talking to people on the baseline during warmups, the day Devin Vassell signed his extension, or the news broke. And I was astonished that a couple of the people I was talking with were like, “You know he probably could have got more if he played the season.” And I’m like, “Dude, what? […] He missed half of last season. He’s never played on a good team. […] If I’m Devin, I’m like, ‘Where do I sign 135 million bucks? I get to play with Victor now.’’
While Lowe, as is to be expected from a highest-echelon analyst like him, certainly made a couple of legitimate points, Vassell followed his extension up with his best season yet. Though he had issues with consistency, and he still wasn’t the defender many expected him to be coming out of college, he showed significant improvement on the offensive end. He turned into a three-level scorer while sporting a career-high true shooting percentage of 58%. He also made strides as a secondary playmaker, with an assist percentage of 19%, a career high. Having recently turned 24, it’s way too early to say Devin, at this stage, is what he is. He’s still a pre-prime player, and he probably will be for another two years.
For the upcoming season, when his extension kicks in, the Spurs will pay Vassell in excess of $29 million — more than they have ever paid to a single player for a single season. (Up until now, the Spurs’ highest per-season earner had been DeMar Derozan with close to $28 million in each of his three seasons in Silver and Black.) Whether Devin will be worth that kind of money from the get-go remains to be seen, but let’s put things into perspective and look how at how much of the respective caps, as projected by Real GM, Devin’s salaries will make up (figures rounded to full millions):
- For the upcoming season, the salary cap is set at $141 million, of which Vassell’s $29-million salary makes up 20%. The good news is: The percentage will decrease from there.
- For the 2025-26 season, the projected cap is $155 million, with the Spurs owing $27 million to Vassell — 17% of the projected cap. His salary stays the same in the 2026-27 season, but due to the projected cap hike to $170 million, Vassell’s salary will only take up 16% of the cap.
- Things look even better in the season Victor Wemnabyma will hopefully enter into the first year of his rookie scale extension. In 2027-28, the projected salary cap is $188 million. The Spurs will owe Vassell $25 million that season, merely 13% of the cap. The percentage stays the same in the season after that, the final year of Vassell’s current contract, with him making $27 million (projected 2028-29 salary cap: $206 million).
All things considered, the Spurs should be in contention mode in the final two years of Vassell’s contract. By then, he will be in his prime and hopefully what many think he can become: a secondary or tertiary option as a two-way wing. A good target and not too unrealistic a comparison would probably be what Khris Middleton was when the Bucks won the championship in 2021. Middleton that year got paid $33 million by the Bucks, roughly one third of the then salary cap. Devin’s salary from 2027 will be roughly one eighth of the cap. Not too bad, is it?
A more recent comparison is Franz Wagner. The German this off-season signed a maximum rookie extension worth at least $224 million ($270 million if he becomes supermax-eligible). Wagner in year three was probably a better player than Vassell was in his third season. He also could have a higher ceiling. But is he worth $89 million more over five years than Vassell, or even more? That’s very doubtful at the very least.
Additionally, the Magic will be hard-pressed to offer Paolo Banchero a contract worth less than Wagner’s next off-season. Two years from now, they could have two maximum-contract players on their payroll — and no clear-cut number one option. The Spurs, in contrast, have as clear a number one option as it gets in Victor Wembanyama. But the same maximum contract rules apply to him as to any other player.
Health and continued development for all four provided, any GM would trade Wagner and Banchero for Wembanyama and Vassell in 2027, when Wembanyama will be on a maximum contract himself. Straight up, it wouldn’t be possible, though, because Wembanyama and Vassell combined will likely earn significantly less than Wagner and Banchero. The Spurs were lucky to get the French Phenom, and the way they are working the cap around him looks awfully good so far.
By August Bembel, via Pounding The Rock