By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-02-04 12:21:48
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。
上周，关于马刺有意交易得到德阿伦·福克斯(De’Aaron Fox)的传言甚嚣尘上之际，维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)对总经理布莱恩·莱特(Brian Wright)完成这笔交易充满信心。
“我相信管理层，”这位21岁的超级球星说道。
文班亚马对莱特及其团队的信任并非没有根据。周一完成的一笔三方交易中，马刺得到了这位备受追捧的高得分控球后卫，而他们并没有付出太多的人员代价，也没有放弃近年来他们煞费苦心囤积的那些最有价值的未来选秀权。
对于这位极具竞争力、雄心勃勃的法国人来说，这一举动更加坚定了他的信念：马刺的智囊团是认真的，并且在打造一支争冠球队的道路上正朝着正确的方向前进。
“这表明他们不想浪费时间，他们愿意及时迈出下一步，”文班在孟菲斯以109-128输给灰熊的比赛后说道。在那场比赛中，他带病作战，得到27分和10个篮板。
“我们正在前进。我认为这是我们未来建设中良好的一步。”
但这一步也带来了期望值的大幅提升，马刺表示他们乐于接受。
“当你加入像德阿伦·福克斯这样的球员，而且你已经拥有了坚实的基础，那么随之而来的就会有各种观点和期望，关于这意味着什么，时间线是什么，”马刺代理主教练米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)说道。“我们明白这一点，但我们不会回避引进优秀球员的现实以及随之而来的各种事情。”
实现这些期望的第一步是将这位征战八年，场均25.0分和6.0次助攻的职业球员福克斯融入马刺的体系。在接受了对战术手册的速成课程后，他最早可能在周三晚上对阵老鹰的比赛中完成身披银黑战袍的首秀。
这场比赛对马刺（21胜26负）来说至关重要，因为他们需要亚特兰大（23胜27负）尽可能多地输球，因为他们在2022年6月将德章泰·默里(Dejounte Murray)交易到老鹰后，控制着老鹰2025年首轮未受保护的选秀权。
“我们显然知道，学习我们的计划、术语以及我们做事的方式需要一个过程，”约翰逊谈到福克斯和另一位来自国王的替补控卫乔丹·麦克劳克林(Jordan McLaughlin)时说道。
“但这些球员已经征战了一段时间，双方都需要一些耐心，当然也会有一些兴奋，包括在这里等待他们的团队。这将是我们需要克服的事情，我们会尽量加快这一进程，即使没有大量的训练时间。”
约翰逊认为，教练组非常适合重新调整轮换阵容，因为本赛季由于伤病，球队阵容的流动性很大。在马刺为得到福克斯而放弃的三名替补球员——控球后卫特雷·琼斯(Tre Jones)、前锋扎克·科林斯(Zach Collins)和西迪·西索科(Sidy Cissoko)——中，只有琼斯是轮换球员。
“我们今年看到的一件事是我们的阵容一直在变化和演变，”约翰逊说道。“我们让特雷和（首发控卫）克里斯（保罗）(Chris Paul)一起打球。我们让（前锋）杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)和哈里森·巴恩斯(Harrison Barnes)打五号位。这将是一个持续的魔方拼图游戏，我们会把它拼凑起来，并尝试找到有效的组合。”
保罗称交易得到福克斯的决定是“无需动脑筋的”。
“你引进了一个曾经的全明星球员，他知道如何才能赢球，”这位未来的名人堂成员说道。
当被问及他和福克斯如何融入后场时，这位39岁的保罗，曾在去年夏天公开表示他与马刺签约是为了“打球”，他说：“我们会拭目以待。这是我们讨论过的事情之一。我们想尝试找到解决办法并赢得一些比赛。我多年来一直与他竞争，也一直在看他打球。我知道他的能力。
“……有机会和他一起打球，将会非常有趣。”
有一件事是肯定的：福克斯令人印象深刻的技术能力为约翰逊和他的教练组提供了大量的选择。
“他的履历说明了一切，”约翰逊说道。“他是联盟中的顶级球员，攻防两端都非常出色，在各个方面都充满活力。”
保罗指出，福克斯“很多时候都会吸引包夹，尤其是在转换进攻中”。他还强调，福克斯将在无形中提升这支已经输掉了过去13场比赛中10场的球队。
“关于福克斯，我知道我们球队最需要的是他的竞争力，”保罗说道。“我很高兴拥有这一点。”
与文班一样，杰出的新秀，2024年NBA选秀的第四顺位斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)相信，马刺正在打造一支未来多年的强队。
“做出这样的举动，”他谈到交易得到福克斯时说道，“这肯定会帮助我们实现目标。”
至于期望值的大幅提升，卡斯尔表示这真的不是什么新鲜事。
“我们对自己已经有这样的期望了，”他说道。“德阿伦的到来，他会完全认同我们想要做的事情。”
Sacramento Kings’ De’Aaron Fox plays during an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) handles the ball against San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn.
点击查看原文：Spurs aren't shying away from heightened expectations after adding Fox
Spurs aren’t shying away from heightened expectations after adding Fox
As rumors about the Spurs’ interest in trading for De’Aaron Fox reached a fever pitch last week, Victor Wembanyama put his faith in general manager Brian Wright to get the job done.
“I trust the front office," the 21-year-old superstar said.
Wembanyama’s belief in Wright and Co. wasn’t unfounded as the Spurs gained the much-coveted high-scoring point guard in a three-team trade completed Monday without having to give up too much in terms of personnel and the most valuable of the future picks they’ve painstakingly stockpiled in recent years.
For the highly competitive, ambitious Frenchman, the move underscored his belief that the Spurs brain trust is serious and on track when it comes to building a title contender.
“It just shows they’re not here to waste time and they’re willing to do the next step on time,” Wembanyama said Monday in Memphis after a 128-109 loss to the Grizzlies in which he had 27 points and 10 rebounds while battling an illness.
“We’re moving forward. I think it’s a good step in the building of our future.”
But with that step comes a significant spike in expectations, something the Spurs say they are embracing.
“When you add a player like De’Aaron Fox and you already have a strong foundation, there will be opinions and expectations that come with that, with what that means, what the timeline is,” acting Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “We get that, but we will not shy away from the reality of adding good players and things that come with that.”
The first step toward meeting those expectations is to integrate Fox, an eighth-year pro averaging 25.0 points and 6.0 assists, into the Spurs system. After receiving a crash course on the playbook, he could make his debut in Silver and Black as soon as Wednesday night against the Hawks.
It’s an important game for the Spurs (21-26) because they need Atlanta (23-27) to lose as much as possible because they control its unprotected first-round pick in the 2025 draft after trading Dejounte Murray to the Hawks in June 2022.
“We obviously know there’ll be a runway of learning our program and terminology and how we do things,” Johnson said of Fox and the other player from Sacramento joining the Spurs, reserve point guard Jordan McLaughlin.
"But these guys have been around a little while and there’ll be some patience and some, I’m sure, excitement on both sides, including from the group here waiting on them. It’ll just be something we work through and will try to expedite as much as possible without having a ton of practice time.”
Johnson believes the coaching staff is well suited to re-shuffle the rotation after dealing with a lot of fluidity this season due to injuries. Of the three reserve players the Spurs gave up to acquire Fox –` point guard Tre Jones and forwards Zach Collins and Sidy Cissoko – only Jones was a rotation player.
“One thing we’ve seen this year is our lineups have been ever-changing and have evolved,” Johnson said. “We played Tre, we played (starting point guard) Chris (Paul) together. We’ve played (forwards) Jeremy (Sochan) and Harrison (Barnes) at the five. It’s going to be just a continued Rubik’s Cube puzzle we’ll put together and try to find combinations that work.”
Paul called the decision to trade for Fox a “no-brainer.”
“You bring somebody in that has been an All-Star and knows what it takes to win,” the future Hall of Famer said.
Asked how he and Fox might fit into the backcourt, the 39-year-old Paul, who famously stated last summer that he signed with the Spurs “to hoop,” said, "We’re going to see. It’s one of those things we’ve talked about. We want to try to figure it out and win some games. I’ve been competing against him for years and watching him play. I know what he’s capable of.
“…To get a chance to play alongside him, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
One thing is certain: Fox’s impressive skill set gives Johnson and his staff plenty to work with.
“His resume speaks for itself,” Johnson said. “He’s a top player in this league, both ends of the floor, dynamic in every sense of the word.”
Paul noted Fox will “command a double team a lot of times, especially in transition.” He also stressed that Fox will give the team, which has lost 10 of its last 13 games, a boost in an intangible sense.
“The biggest thing about Fox that I know our team can use is his competitiveness,” Paul said. “I’m excited to have that.”
Like Wembanyama, standout rookie Stephon Castle, the fourth overall pick of the 2024 NBA Draft, believes the Spurs are on their way to building a powerhouse for years to come.
“To make a move like that,” he said of trading for Fox, “it’s definitely going to help us to get there.”
And as far as the spike in expectations, Castle said it really isn’t anything new.
“We kind of already had those expectations for ourselves,” he said. “De’Aaron coming, he’s going to be right on board with what we are wanting to do.”
By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News