By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-11-30 13:14:48
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。
2024年11月11日星期一，在德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥的弗罗斯特银行中心，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫克里斯·保罗（Chris Paul）在马刺对阵国王的比赛开始前拥抱萨克拉门托国王队前锋德玛尔·德罗赞（DeMar DeRozan）。
加州萨克拉门托——马刺队后卫特雷·琼斯(Tre Jones) 最初与德玛尔·德罗赞(DeMar DeRozan) 建立联系时，保持着安全的距离，并戴着口罩。
琼斯的2020-21赛季新秀赛季是NBA历史上第一个在新冠疫情防控措施下开始的赛季。
由于健康原因，球员们无法外出比赛，因此琼斯抓住机会，在球队酒店宴会厅的临时聚会中向他的这位新的全明星队友学习。
“他总是试图帮助我们这些年轻球员，帮助我们理解比赛，”琼斯说。“他在很多小事上都指导我们。”
琼斯在圣安东尼奥的第一个赛季最终成为了德罗赞的最后一个赛季。
2021年8月，德罗赞被交易到芝加哥，换来了一系列选秀权，无意中也教会了琼斯一些关于NBA的其他事情。
“你最终会明白，归根结底这是一桩生意，”琼斯说。“有很多事情你无法理解，你可能永远也无法理解，这没关系。”
在又一个休赛期交易后，德罗赞现在效力于萨克拉门托，他将在周日迎接马刺队来到黄金一号中心（尽管这位明星后卫可能因为挥之不去的背伤而无法上场）。
琼斯见到德罗赞时可能会给他一个拥抱。
马刺队总经理布莱恩·莱特(Brian Wright) 也可能如此。
毕竟，哈里森·巴恩斯(Harrison Barnes) 现在身穿马刺队服，德罗赞是其中的原因。
去年夏天，在芝加哥履行完合同后，德罗赞转会到萨克拉门托的条件是国王队找到一种方法来削减薪资，以吸收他新的三年7330万美元的合同。
马刺队主动提出帮忙，接手了32岁的巴恩斯以及他合同中剩余的3700万美元。
“每年的这个时候，你都要和很多不同的球队交谈，”莱特说。“自由球员市场已经停滞了一段时间。在最初的几天之后，你会看到大概的形势。然后你就会看到你的机会在哪里。”
如果国王队要得到德罗赞，很明显他们需要一支第三方球队参与进来，才能使薪资空间的计算成立。
“在那个时候，”莱特说，“我们只是在努力想办法如何让这件事对每个人都有利。”
当这笔三方交易尘埃落定后，马刺队以极低的代价得到了巴恩斯，他们只把很少上场的莱权·格雷(RaiQuon Gray) 送到了芝加哥。
除了巴恩斯之外，马刺队还获得了在2031年与国王队交换首轮选秀权的权利。
当巴恩斯的名字在与马刺队的讨论中出现时，萨克拉门托应该不会感到惊讶。
“过去的对话通常会导致未来的对话，”莱特说。“这不是我们第一次谈论HB。”
巴恩斯很快就成为了马刺队重建计划这一阶段不可或缺的一部分。
巴恩斯和39岁的控球后卫克里斯·保罗一起，为马刺队仍然年轻的更衣室提供了老将的经验和成熟的职业精神。
巴恩斯在球场上的表现也不错，他刚刚获得了他的第一个西部周最佳球员奖。
作为首发大前锋，巴恩斯一直是马刺队10胜9负开局的关键人物。
“他对我们来说非常重要，”前锋凯尔登·约翰逊(Keldon Johnson) 说。
莱特说，巴恩斯博学多才的影响力在整个组织中都能感受到。
巴恩斯刚到圣安东尼奥，就加入了球员专属的群聊。
他已经和马刺队的书迷维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama) 建立了一个两人读书俱乐部，并且在各种场合作为马刺队的代表与社区领袖进行交流。
“这不仅仅是在更衣室里，”莱特说。“他以他的职业精神和思考方式树立的标准，在整个组织中产生了共鸣。”
巴恩斯在萨克拉门托的六个赛季里也带来了类似的风气。
“我在那个更衣室里待了很长时间，”巴恩斯说。“很多美好的回忆，很多亲密的关系。”
德罗赞在马刺队的三个赛季里也同样受人爱戴。
他违背自己的意愿来到圣安东尼奥，是2018年7月将不满的前锋科怀·伦纳德(Kawhi Leonard) 送到多伦多的交易中最重要的回报。
尽管马刺队在德罗赞效力期间只有一次进入季后赛，并在2019年首轮输给了丹佛，但这位多次入选全明星的球员成为了整个组织的最爱。
9月，当德罗赞出版他的回忆录《喧嚣之上》时，他邀请马刺队教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich) 为其作序。
“他在这里是一位非常出色的球员，一位非常出色的队友，”莱特说。
然而，德罗赞在圣安东尼奥最持久的遗产是在他离开之后建立起来的。对马刺队来说，他是一份持续给予的礼物。
2021年夏天，当德罗赞告知马刺队他打算以自由球员的身份与公牛队签约时，两家俱乐部进行了一笔先签后换的交易，以帮助他实现目标。
这笔交易是第一个信号——无论是对马刺队更衣室里的球员还是整个NBA——球队正在致力于全面重建。
在接下来的几个月和几年里，马刺队将德里克·怀特(Derrick White)、德章泰·穆雷(Dejounte Murray) 和雅各布·珀尔特尔(Jakob Poeltl) 等关键球员送走，以换取选秀权。
“我认为我们肯定能感觉到球队正在朝着重建的方向转变，”琼斯谈到德罗赞的交易时说。
由于2021年德罗赞的交易，马刺队拥有今年夏天芝加哥的首轮选秀权，前提是它不在前十名之外。他们无条件地拥有公牛队的次轮选秀权。
马刺队还在2021年与芝加哥的交易中得到了赛迪斯·杨(Thaddeus Young)，最终将这位老将前锋交易到多伦多，换来了2022年的首轮选秀权，也就是后来的马拉基·布拉纳姆(Malaki Branham)。
快进到去年夏天，马刺队利用德罗赞想加入国王队的愿望，以此来增加巴恩斯，并且——取决于从现在到2031年萨克拉门托的情况好坏——或许还能再获得一个未来的乐透签。
莱特说，这笔交易的目标是为所有相关方构建一个“双赢”的局面。
“这样你就可以再次回来进行交易并与球队合作，”莱特说。
对莱特来说，再次帮助德罗赞完成职业生涯的下一步的想法是一个显而易见的卖点。
毕竟，在离开圣安东尼奥三年多之后，德罗赞仍在帮助马刺队。
“这是一种我们可以继续帮助他，同时帮助我们球队成长的方法，”莱特说。“这对每个人来说都是双赢的。”
Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray (13) dunks on the San Antonio Spurs after a quick pass from Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan (10), not pictured, during the second half at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Kings, 116-96.
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul (3) and Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan (10) joke around during the second half at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Kings, 116-96.
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul, left, and Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan share a laugh before the start of the Spurs versus Kings game at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas.
点击查看原文：How DeMar DeRozan keeps paying dividends for the Spurs
How DeMar DeRozan keeps paying dividends for the Spurs
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul, front, embraces Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan before the start of the Spurs versus Kings game at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Spurs guard Tre Jones first bonded with DeMar DeRozan from a safe distance, properly masked.
Jones’ rookie season of 2020-21 was the first in NBA history that opened with COVID-19 protocols.
Players couldn’t go out on the road for health reasons, so Jones took the opportunity to learn from his new All-Star teammate in impromptu hangouts inside team hotel ballrooms.
“He was always trying to help us younger guys out, help us understand the game,” Jones said. “He worked with us on so many little things.”
Jones’ first season in San Antonio ended up being DeRozan’s last.
In August of 2021, DeRozan was dealt to Chicago for a haul of draft picks, inadvertently teaching Jones something else about the NBA.
“You learn that it is a business at the end of the day,” Jones said. “There’s a lot of things that go on you don’t understand. You might never understand, and that’s OK.”
Now with Sacramento following another offseason trade, DeRozan will welcome the Spurs to the Golden1 Center on Sunday (though the star guard might not play due to a lingering back injury).
Jones will likely give DeRozan a hug when he sees him.
Spurs general manager Brian Wright might, too.
After all, DeRozan is the reason Harrison Barnes is now in a Spurs uniform.
Having played out his contract in Chicago last summer, DeRozan’s swap to Sacramento was contingent on the Kings finding a way to shed salary to absorb his new three-year, $73.3-million pact.
Enter the Spurs, who offered to help out by taking the 32-year-old Barnes and the $37 million remaining on his contract off the Kings’ hands.
“That time of year, you’re talking to a bunch of different teams,” Wright said. “Free agency has stalled a bit. You kind of see where the landscape is after the first few days. Then you see where your opportunities are.”
If the Kings were to land DeRozan, it was clear they were going to need to involve a third team to make the salary-cap math work.
“At that point,” Wright said, “it was just working through how do we make this work for everybody?”
When the dust settled on the three-team swap, the Spurs landed Barnes for the low, low cost of sending little-used forward RaiQuon Gray to Chicago.
In addition to Barnes, the Spurs also acquired the right to swap first-round picks with the Kings in 2031.
Sacramento could not have been surprised when Barnes’ name came up in discussions with the Spurs.
“Conversations in the past typically lead to conversations in the future,” Wright said. “It wasn’t the first time we’d talked about HB.”
In short order, Barnes has become an integral part of this phase of the Spurs’ rebuilding project.
Along with 39-year-old point guard Chris Paul, Barnes has provided the Spurs’ still-youthful locker room with veteran experience and a sense of grown-up professionalism.
Barnes hasn’t been bad on the floor, either, coming off his first Western Conference Player of the Week award.
As a starting power forward, Barnes has been a key cog in the Spurs’ 10-9 start.
“He’s been big for us,” forward Keldon Johnson said.
Wright said Barnes’ erudite presence has been felt throughout the organization.
Almost immediately upon his arrival to San Antonio, Barnes inserted himself into the players-only group text chain.
He has started a two-man book club with the Spurs’ resident bibliophile, Victor Wembanyama, and has been a Spurs representative in various settings with community leaders.
“It’s not just in the locker room,” Wright said. “The standard he sets with his professionalism and the way he thinks, it reverberates across the whole organization.”
Barnes brought a similar ethos to Sacramento in his six seasons there.
“I was in that locker room for a long time,” Barnes said. “A lot of good memories, a lot of close relationships.”
DeRozan was similarly beloved in his three seasons with the Spurs.
He came to San Antonio against his will, the most significant return piece in a July 2018 trade that sent disgruntled forward Kawhi Leonard to Toronto.
Though the Spurs made the playoffs once in DeRozan’s tenure, falling in the first round to Denver in 2019, the multi-time All-Star became a favorite throughout the organization.
When DeRozan published his memoir, “Above the Noise,” in September, he asked Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to pen the foreword.
“He was such a great player here, a great teammate,” Wright said.
Yet DeRozan’s most enduring legacy in San Antonio has been built after his departure. To the Spurs, he is the gift that keeps on giving.
When DeRozan informed the Spurs he intended to sign with the Bulls as a free agent in the summer of 2021, the clubs worked a sign-and-trade to help him get there.
That deal was the first signal – both to the players in the Spurs’ locker room and the NBA at large – the team was committing to a full-scale tear-down and rebuild.
In the months and years to follow, the Spurs would send key players like Derrick White, Dejounte Murray and Jakob Poeltl away for draft capital.
“I think we definitely could feel that shifting toward the direction of a rebuild,” Jones said of the DeRozan trade.
Thanks to the 2021 DeRozan swap, the Spurs own Chicago’s first round pick this summer, provided it falls outside the top 10. They own the Bulls’ second-round pick unconditionally.
The Spurs also obtained Thaddeus Young in that 2021 deal with Chicago, eventually flipping the veteran forward to Toronto for the 2022 first-round pick that became Malaki Branham.
Flash forward to last summer, when the Spurs leveraged DeRozan’s desire to join the Kings as a means to add Barnes and – depending on how well or not things go in Sacramento between now and 2031 – perhaps another future lottery pick.
The goal of that deal, Wright said, was to construct a “win-win” for everyone involved.
“That’s how you can come back and do deals and work with teams again,” Wright said.
To Wright, the notion of once again assisting DeRozan carry out the next step in his career was an obvious selling point.
After all, three-plus years after leaving town, DeRozan is still helping out the Spurs
“It was a way we could continue to help him, and help our team grow at the same time,” Wright said. “That one was a win-win for everybody.”
Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray (13) dunks on the San Antonio Spurs after a quick pass from Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan (10), not pictured, during the second half at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Kings, 116-96.
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul (3) and Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan (10) joke around during the second half at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Kings, 116-96.
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul, left, and Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan share a laugh before the start of the Spurs versus Kings game at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News