By Jeje Gomez | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-01-28 11:09:25
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。
马刺队可能并不急于进行交易，但琼斯并非不可或缺，并且可能成为一笔颇具价值的资产。
交易截止日期临近，马刺队发现自己处于一个有趣的位置。目前尚不清楚他们是否会积极买入，但至少就轮换球员而言，看到他们成为卖方会令人惊讶。他们有弱点，但稳定似乎是他们今年的首要任务之一。
特雷·琼斯(Tre Jones)是目前球队轮换阵容中唯一一个可以被交易的球员，而且这对于双方来说都是合理的决定。本赛季他的角色有所缩减，虽然他很有帮助，但他似乎并非不可或缺。马刺队不应该只是试图摆脱他，而是应该让他成为可交易的筹码。
琼斯可以帮助很多球队，但在马刺队却是多余的
琼斯是一个不错的球员，但有一个主要缺陷：他不会投篮。尽管如此，他带来的价值仍然不容忽视。本赛季马刺队在他上场时的表现明显更好，这一趋势延续了过去两年。他身材矮小，无法成为防守端的屏障，但他通过强硬的身体对抗和快速的移动避免成为防守漏洞。他擅长组织进攻，同时还能控制失误，并在可能的情况下加快比赛节奏，当出现空当时还能突破到篮下。
那么为什么马刺队要交易他呢？这与目前的控球后卫轮换有关。琼斯和克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)作为搭档，身高都太矮，无法在防守端提供足够的保护。虽然他们在进攻端可以共存，但当他们能够成为主要的组织者并设定自己喜欢的节奏时，两人都会表现得更好。他们可以在某些对位中生存下来，但除了琼斯的伤病之外，还有一个原因可以解释为什么他们本赛季总共只一起上场了75分钟。琼斯与斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)的搭档效果更好，因为这位新秀仍在学习如何成为主要的控球手。但由于保罗每场比赛上场29分钟，而卡斯尔需要上场时间来练习控球以继续提高，琼斯没有太多空间在比赛中留下自己的印记。他的场均上场时间排在全队第九（比第八名少了近八分钟），而他的使用率则大幅下降。
然后是布雷克·韦斯利(Blake Wesley)和马拉基·布拉纳姆(Malaki Branham)。轮换阵容中几乎没有琼斯的位置，所以这两名年轻的后卫完全被排除在外，除了伤病之外，没有其他合理的方式可以看到这种情况发生改变。两人都没有拿出什么表现来证明他们应该获得上场时间，但马刺队执行了他们下赛季的合同选项。当然，这并不意味着他们一定在球队的未来计划中——他们的薪水很低，很容易被处理掉——但在可能进入期望值更高的2025/26赛季之前，至少给他们一些机会 seems sensible this year. 如果本赛季的目标是弄清楚谁该留下，谁该离开，以便在夏天做出明智的决定，那么让韦斯利和布拉纳姆在半个赛季里获得少量但稳定的上场时间来展示他们的进步 seems smart.
琼斯为交易他的球队提供稳定的替补表现和潜在的薪资节省
琼斯即使在理想情况下也不会换来首轮签或一名有潜力的年轻球员，但他可以换来一个次轮签或一个位置不那么拥挤的替补球员。但他的市场是什么呢？是对他的技能感兴趣的球队还是对他的到期合同感兴趣的球队？幸运的是，两者皆有可能。
通常情况下，在交易截止日期前得到一名拥有到期合同的球员可能意味着得到一名短期租借球员，但最近市场对矮个控卫的处理方式表明，重新签下琼斯并不难。特雷的哥哥泰厄斯·琼斯(Tyus Jones)在经历了职业生涯最好的一年后，于上个休赛期进入了非受限自由球员市场，但没有收到任何大合同，因此他不得不以底薪与太阳队签约。另一位拿到底薪的小个子后卫是何塞·阿尔瓦拉多(Jose Alvarado)。这位鹈鹕队的活力球员本应进入受限自由球员市场，但他同意了一份2年900万美元的续约合同，其中包含2026/27赛季的球员选项，以获得保障的薪水。像佩顿·普里查德(Payton Pritchard)和T·J·麦康奈尔(T.J. McConnell)这样的球员在各自的球队中扮演着重要的角色，但他们的年薪都不到八位数。关键是，如果一支球队有兴趣交易然后重新签下琼斯，他们应该不会面临太多竞争，并且可以低价得到他。
一些球队可能对琼斯的到期合同比他的技能更感兴趣，如果真是这样的话，马刺队的薪资状况使他们成为完美的交易伙伴。圣安东尼奥预计在即将到来的休赛期不会有薪资空间，但在2026年有一些大合同即将到期，所以用一个还有两年合同的球员来交换琼斯应该不成问题。马刺队还可以立即节省薪资空间。由于他们没有面临任何交易限制，他们可以送出琼斯910万美元的合同，并接收大约1600万美元的合同，而不会接近奢侈税线，更不用说第一道硬工资帽了。一个希望削减奢侈税或低于硬工资帽的球队可以通过交易琼斯来获得一名真正的轮换球员，同时仍然实现其财务目标。
琼斯乍一看不像是一个很好的交易资产，但他是一名有用的球员，可以低价获得，可以帮助球队清理今年和未来的薪金空间，如果他表现出色，很可能会以一份对球队友好的合同重新签约。如果马刺队让他成为可交易的球员，其他球队至少会询问他，这并不奇怪。
马刺队应该这样做是有充分理由的。他们不会得到一个顶级资产作为回报，但他可以为他们换来一个选秀权或一个位置不那么拥挤的替补球员，并且可以让他们启用合同期限超过本赛季的年轻球员。如果他们的想法是在不冒大风险的情况下稍微改变一下现状，那么交易琼斯可能是正确的决定。
点击查看原文：Why trading Tre Jones makes sense for the Spurs
Why trading Tre Jones makes sense for the Spurs
The Spurs are probably not in a hurry to make trades, but Jones is expendable and could be a sneakily valuable asset.
The trade deadline is approaching and the Spurs find themselves in an interesting position. It’s unclear whether they’ll be aggressive buyers but it would be surprising to see them be sellers, at least when it comes to their rotation players. They have weaknesses but stability seems to be one of their priorities this year.
Tre Jones is the one player regularly getting minutes that they could part ways with in a decision that could make sense for both parties. He has seen his role shrink this season and while he’s helpful, he doesn’t seem essential. The Spurs shouldn’t just try to get rid of him, but they should definitely make him available.
Jones could help a lot of teams but is superfluous on the Spurs
Jones is a nice player with one major flaw: he can’t shoot. Still, there’s value to what he brings to the table. The Spurs have been significantly better with him on the floor this season, a trend that continues from the two years prior. He’s too small to be a stopper on defense but he avoids being a liability by being physical and quick, and he’s great at running the offense without turning the ball over while still pushing the pace when possible and driving to the rim when a lane is there.
So why would the Spurs trade him? It has to do with the current guard rotation. Jones and Chris Paul are too small as a duo to be stout defensively and while they can coexist on offense, both are better when they can be the main orchestrator and set their preferred pace. They can survive in certain matchups, but there’s a reason beyond Jones’ injury woes why they have only shared the floor for 75 total minutes this season. Jones has paired well with Stephon Castle in a bigger sample size, as the rookie is still learning how to be a primary ball handler, but with Paul playing 29 minutes a game and Castle needing reps running point to continue to improve, there’s not much room for Jones to leave his mark in the game. He’s averaging the ninth most minutes per game on the team (almost eight fewer than the eighth man) while his usage has plummeted.
Then there’s Blake Wesley and Malaki Branham. There’s barely room for Jones in the rotation, so the two young guards are completely out of it and there’s no reasonable way except for injuries to see that changing. Neither has done much to suggest they should be getting minutes, but the Spurs picked up their options for next season. Now, that doesn’t mean they are in their future plans — their salaries are tiny and could likely be dumped easily — but it seems sensible to at least give them a shot this year before potentially entering a 2025/26 season with higher expectations and two still untested young depth pieces around. If the point of this season is to figure out who belongs and who doesn’t to make informed decisions in the summer, allowing Wesley and Branham to have few but consistent minutes for half a season to show they have improved feels smart.
Jones offers solid bench play and potential savings to whoever trades for him
Jones is not someone who would even in ideal circumstances net a first-rounder or a quality young player on a trade, but he could fetch a second-rounder or a depth piece at a less crowded position. But what’s the market for him, teams that are interested in his skills or in his expiring contract? Fortunately, it could be both.
Normally, getting a player at the deadline on an expiring contract could mean getting a rental, but the way the market has recently treated small guards suggests it wouldn’t be hard to re-sign Jones. Tre’s brother Tyus entered unrestricted free agency last offseason after a career year, but there were no big offers for him, so he had to sign with the Suns for the minimum. Another small guard who settled for scraps was Jose Alvarado. The Pelicans’ sparkplug was headed to restricted free agency but instead agreed to a two-year, $9 million extension with a player option for the 2026/27 season to get guaranteed money. Guys like Payton Pritchard and T.J. McConnel play big roles for their teams and make under eight figures. The point is, if a team is interested in trading and then re-signing Jones, they shouldn’t have much competition and could get a bargain.
Some franchises might be more interested in Jones’ expiring contract than his skills, and the Spurs’ cap situation makes them the perfect trade partner if that’s the case. San Antonio is not projected to have cap space this upcoming offseason but has a few sizable contracts set to expire in 2026, so taking someone with two years left in his deal for Jones shouldn’t be an issue. The Silver and Black can also offer immediate savings. Because they don’t face any trade restrictions, they can send out Jones’ $9.1 million contract and take in around $16 million while not coming even close to the luxury tax, much less the first apron. A team looking to cut its tax bill or get under the apron could get a legitimate rotation player while still accomplishing its financial goals by trading for Jones.
Jones doesn’t look like a good trade asset at first glance, but he’s a helpful player who could be had for cheap, could help clear salary this year and going forward, and can likely be re-signed to a team-friendly deal if he impresses. It would not be surprising if other franchises at least inquire about him if the Spurs make him available.
There’s a good case for why they should. They won’t get a blue chip asset back but he could fetch them a pick or a depth piece at a less crowded position and it could allow them to play younger guys who have a contract that extends past this season. If the idea is to shake things up a little without taking big risks, moving Jones could be the right decision.
By Jeje Gomez, via Pounding The Rock