By Jeje Gomez | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-01-06 06:58:49
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。
追逐球星总是很诱人,但马刺队应该坚持自己的路线,而不是追求像吉米·巴特勒(Jimmy Butler)这样昂贵、反复无常且正在老化的球员。
吉米·巴特勒在迈阿密热火队的时光可能很快就要结束了。这位才华横溢但不好伺候的侧翼球员公开表达了对自己目前处境的不满,并要求被交易。作为回应,热火队已经将他停赛,并正在通过与感兴趣的球队进行联系来满足他的要求。
巴特勒在迈阿密的情况就像一颗定时炸弹。据报道,他打算拒绝执行下赛季的球员选项,以寻求一份顶薪续约合同。问题在于巴特勒已经35岁了,热火队又不是争冠球队,而帕特·莱利(Pat Riley)不会授予“养老合同”。如果他能让球队历史上最好的球员德维恩·韦德(Dwyane Wade)在其巅峰期过后离开而不是付钱给他,那么他对巴特勒这样做也毫不犹豫。
有一些零星的传闻称马刺队对比特勒感兴趣,而且据报道他没有优先考虑的目的地名单,所以问题是,马刺队应该追求他吗?
支持交易的理由很简单。巴特勒仍然是一位球星。尽管本赛季出场时间减少,使用率降低,但他的每分钟数据几乎与上赛季相同,并且与两年前让他入选NBA最佳阵容二队的赛季相差无几。他也是一名强悍的防守者,一个可以防守多个位置的身体对抗型球员。有很多证据表明,他在季后赛中会提升自己的比赛水平,在那里他经常表现得比那些更受赞誉的球星更好。每支球队都需要一个既能创造投篮机会又能打无球,防守水平高,并且能在关键时刻挺身而出的球员。马刺队目前还不是一支争冠球队,但有了巴特勒,他们应该会成为一支季后赛球队,并在季后赛中制造一些动静。
圣安东尼奥也有完成交易的筹码。在巴特勒职业生涯的这个阶段,以及在与另一支球队又一次不愉快的分手之后,很难衡量他的交易价值,但以德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)为核心的交易应该可以完成。马刺队还有其他老将和合同不错的球员可以加入交易。目前没有硬工资帽的担忧,支付巴特勒的薪水也不是什么大问题,因为文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)几年内都不会获得续约合同,而且球队的其他合同中也没有任何沉重的负担。如果目标是加快球队的重建进程,那么引进一位在大舞台上经验丰富的老将球星是实现这一目标的一种方式。
然而,这不是马刺队应该建立球队的方式。追求巴特勒将是跳过一些步骤,而这正是马刺队幸运地避免了的。引进一些愿意做出牺牲的老将,比如克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)和哈里森·巴恩斯(Harrison Barnes)是一回事,但巴特勒会要求一个重要的角色和对进攻的调整。圣安东尼奥的进攻端有很多机会,但进攻的核心是文班亚马,为了适应巴特勒,这必须改变。如果马刺队距离真正的争冠只差一步之遥,那么减少他们当家球星的角色将是一个值得的牺牲,而球队的老化也是一个明智的决定。但是巴特勒能让他们立即成为一支能够与联盟顶级球队竞争的顶级球队吗?这似乎不太可能。
然后是巴特勒的“历史包袱”和更衣室的潜在问题。巴特勒现在将以不愉快的结局离开他的第四支球队。自从在芝加哥公牛队效力以来,他再也没有打过70场以上的比赛,但他的出场时间一直很高。他显然只想得到他的顶薪合同,或者至少是一份大合同,而且似乎并不太在意是谁给他的。他过去曾与队友发生冲突,多次抱怨自己的角色,并批评教练。综合所有这些因素,无论谁得到巴特勒,得到的都是一个正在老化、不好伺候的球星,尽管他不是特别耐用,但他的身体已经有很多的损耗,他将在他巅峰期过后获得三分之一的工资帽,而且他可能会再次决定他不开心,并通过抱怨的方式离开,就像他过去多次做的那样。
一支拥有老化核心阵容、必须赢在当下的球队,或者一支迫切寻求改变的球队可能会冒这个险,但马刺队这样做毫无意义。巴特勒可能还有足够的能量让圣安东尼奥进入西部前六,并突破第一轮,但这将以牺牲未来所有的薪金空间灵活性为代价。最终,管理层需要利用他们的资产进行升级,但现在球队表现良好,并且正在形成自己的风格,所以并不急于求成。为了引进一个性格反复无常、主要动机是获得最后一份大合同的过气球星而扰乱场上和场下已经奏效的事情,可能会危及到目前为止一直进展顺利的重建工作。需要考虑的负面因素实在太多了。
有人会交易巴特勒,一切可能会对他们有利,而所有决定远离一个真正伟大的球员而不是冒险的人看起来会很愚蠢。这可能会困扰一些球队,但不会困扰马刺队,他们仍然拥有一支正在成长的年轻核心阵容,联盟中最好的球员之一,大量的资产和薪金空间灵活性来进行更安全的重大举措,以及一个相对稳定的更衣室。仅仅为了加快一个目前为止已经取得良好效果的时间表而危及良好的局面是愚蠢的。
点击查看原文:The Spurs should stay away from Jimmy Butler
The Spurs should stay away from Jimmy Butler
It’s always tempting to chase stars, but the Spurs should stay the course instead of pursuing an expensive, volatile, aging player like Jimmy Butler.
Jimmy Butler’s time in Miami will likely end soon. The talented but high-maintenance wing made his unhappiness with his current situation public and asked to be traded. In response, the Heat have suspended him and are looking to accommodate his request by fielding calls from interested franchises.
The Butler situation in Miami was a ticking time bomb. He has a player option for next season that he reportedly intends to decline to seek a max extension. The problem is that Butler is 35 years old, the Heat are not a contender, and Pat Riley doesn’t award legacy contracts. If he let Dwyane Wade, the best player drafted by the franchise, leave instead of paying him after his prime, he would have no qualms about doing it to Butler.
There have been some sparse rumors about the Spurs being interested in Butler and it’s been reported that he has no list of preferred destinations, so the question is, should the Spurs pursue him?
The case for it is simple. Butler is still a star. Despite playing less and having a lower usage this season, his per-minute numbers are almost identical to last season’s and not too far away from the one that earned him an All-NBA second-team berth two years ago. He’s also a stout defender, a physical stopper who can guard several positions. There’s plenty of evidence that he raises his game in the playoffs, where he has routinely outplayed more heralded stars. Every team can use a shot creator who can also play off the ball, defend at a high level and step up in the big moments. The Spurs are not a contender at this point, but with Butler in tow, they should be a playoff team that could make some noise in the postseason.
San Antonio also has the assets to get a deal done. It’s hard to gauge Butler’s trade value at this stage of his career and after another messy breakup with another franchise, but a trade with Devin Vassell as the centerpiece should get it done. The Spurs also have other veterans and players on good deals they could attach. There are no apron concerns at this point and paying Butler wouldn’t be a huge issue because Victor Wembanyama won’t get an extension for a couple more years and the rest of the cap sheet lacks any albatross contracts. if the goal is to speed up the timeline, adding veteran stars with experience in the biggest stages is one way to do it.
It’s not how the Spurs should build their team, though. Pursuing Butler would be skipping steps, which is exactly what the franchise has fortunately avoided. It’s one thing to bring in some steadying veterans willing to defer like Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes, but Butler would demand a big role and tweaks to the offense. There are touches available in San Antonio but the attack is centered on Victor Wembanyama and that would have to change to accommodate Jimmy. If the Spurs were one piece away from serious contention, reducing the role of their franchise star would be a worthy sacrifice, and getting older as a team a sensible decision. But would Butler make them a top-tier team able to compete with the league’s elite immediately? It seems unlikely.
Then there’s the baggage and the potential locker room problems. Butler will now leave his fourth franchise on bad terms. He hasn’t played over 70 games since his time in Chicago, but has always logged big minutes. He clearly just wants his max deal or at least a big extension and doesn’t seem to care much about who gives it to him. He’s clashed with teammates in the past, complained about his role repeatedly, and criticized coaches. Add all those factors and whoever gets Jimmy is getting an aging, high-maintenance star with a lot of miles on his body despite not being particularly durable who will get paid a third of the cap as he ages out of his prime and who might decide he’s not happy and complain his way out again, as he has multiple times in the past.
A team with an old core and a win-now mandate or a franchise desperately looking for a shakeup might take that risk, but it makes no sense for the Spurs to do so. Butler might still have enough in the tank to get San Antonio to the top six in the West and past the first round, but it would be at the cost of all future cap flexibility. Eventually the front office will need to use its assets to make an upgrade but there’s no rush right now that the team has been performing well and forming an identity. Disrupting what has been working both on and off the court to add a past-his-prime star with a volatile personality and whose primary motivation is to get one last big payday could endanger a rebuild that has been going great so far. There are simply too many negative factors to consider.
Someone will trade for Butler, everything might work out for them and everyone who decided to stay away from a legitimately great player instead of taking the risk will look foolish. That could haunt some franchises, but not the Spurs, which would still have a developing young core, one of the best players in the league, plenty of assets and cap flexibility to make a safer big move, and a relatively stable locker room. It would be foolish to jeopardize a good situation just to speed up a timeline that has delivered good results so far.
By Jeje Gomez, via Pounding The Rock