By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-11-22 15:38:27
2025年6月28日，星期六，圣安东尼奥，圣安东尼奥马刺队在胜利资本表演中心为2025届新秀举行新闻发布会，球队首轮秀迪伦·哈珀从总经理布莱恩·莱特 (Brian Wright) 手中接过球衣。在过去几十年里，马刺队和雷霆队一直是稳定的典范，如今他们再次从其他短视的管理层身上获益。
在达拉斯，据报道，那位真人秀明星排挤了前球鞋高管，同时正努力争取那位如今希望更多参与球队事务的赌场大亨的信任。
在新奥尔良，毫无疑问，掌权者在去年夏天做了一笔被打劫的交易。然而，这位掌权者是否真的手握实权，仍然是个悬而未决的问题。
在洛杉矶，闹剧的类型则取决于你关注的是哪支球队。在一个场馆里，一位球队女老板在她的两个兄弟被解雇后依然大权在握。而在另一个场馆，一位被指控安排了数百万美元“吃空饷”职位的老板，正紧张地等待着调查结果，而这一结果可能会将他赶出自己亲手建立的篮球殿堂。
与此同时，在俄克拉荷马城和圣安东尼奥这样的地方呢？
那份波澜不惊的老样子，反而愈发显得可贵。
管理层的连续性本身并非总是一种美德。要证明这一点，你可以看看与独行侠队同处一个大都会区的NFL球队。这将是同一位老板和同一位总经理连续第30年带领牛仔队止步于联合会冠军赛之前，而且只要杰里·琼斯 (Jerry Jones) 还在世，这一纪录看起来也很可能会延续下去。
但是，当一个老板集团懂得放权，而有能力的决策者们又确信自己能够长期任职时，这能让一支球队在面对那些运作方式不同的竞争对手时，获得巨大的优势。
例如，眼下NBA的西部联盟就充斥着各种烂摊子，其中许多混乱局面的持续时间，甚至会远超当初那些“纵火者”的任期。
而始终如一的雷霆和马刺，则将因此而长期受益。
在我们深入探讨细节之前，有必要先盘点一下联盟中的一些乱象。ESPN本周的一篇深度报道详尽地记录了独行侠队内部早已开始发酵的功能失调问题。自从《创智赢家》的马克·库班 (Mark Cuban) 将他的大部分股权出售给控制拉斯维加斯金沙集团的家族后，混乱就一直在球队内部蔓延。
根据ESPN的报道，库班在出售股权后试图保留在篮球决策上的话语权，但却被尼科·哈里森 (Nico Harrison) 排挤出局——这位前耐克高管正是由库班聘为总经理的。哈里森赢得了新老板帕特里克·杜蒙特的信任，随后又因为那笔灾难性的卢卡·东契奇 (Luka Doncic) 交易而挥霍了这份信任，这给了库班一个机会，发动了一场被ESPN消息源称为“宫廷政变”的行动。
2025年5月28日，星期三，俄克拉荷马城，NBA西部决赛第五场对阵明尼苏达森林狼队的比赛后，俄克拉荷马雷霆队后卫谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大（左）与总经理萨姆·普雷斯蒂（右）相视而笑。在过去几十年里，马刺队和雷霆队一直是稳定的典范，如今他们再次从其他短视的管理层身上获益。
当然，并非西部每支烂队都能在剧情的错综复杂程度上与独行侠相提并论，但有些球队也足以和他们一较高下。为了在去年六月的选秀中从第23顺位攀升至第13顺位，新奥尔良鹈鹕队送出了一枚无保护的首轮选秀权——这是一个难以想象、高得离谱的代价，而且随着时间的推移显得愈发糟糕。鹈鹕队用那个选秀权选中了一位前途光明的球员德里克·奎恩 (Derik Queen)，但他们目前也排在西部垫底的位置，这意味着他们可能送走了一个在巨星潜力股云集的选秀大年中价值前三的选秀权。
那么，谁该为此负责？嗯，要找出罪魁祸首并不容易，因为尽管乔·杜马斯 (Joe Dumars) 是鹈鹕队名义上的总经理，但据The Athletic报道，他“似乎把几乎全部工作都外包给了前底特律活塞队高管特洛伊·韦弗 (Troy Weaver)”。
换句话说，那里一团糟。孟菲斯也是如此，灰熊队去年解雇了一位教练，据说是为了安抚一名控球后卫，而现在看来这名后卫似乎更加难以安抚。萨克拉门托也是一团糟，他们的教练和总经理双双被解雇，据称是因为未能取悦一位眼光难以超越下周的老板。
洛杉矶快船队同样一团糟。除了老板史蒂夫·鲍尔默 (Steve Ballmer) 因涉嫌规避工资帽而面临NBA调查的麻烦外，这支联盟薪资最高的球队之一，其阵容看起来也老态龙钟，毫无希望。
这一切与俄克拉荷马城和圣安东尼奥等地有何关联？嗯，总经理萨姆·普雷斯蒂 (Sam Presti) 掌管雷霆队已有18年之久，从他们还在西雅图时便已开始。而霍尔特家族将马刺队的篮球决策权交给R.C.·布福德 (R.C. Buford) 和格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich)（后来又加入了布莱恩·莱特）的时间则更长。
这种连续性带来了巨大的好处。当普雷斯蒂或莱特与那些缺乏远见的管理层讨论交易时，他们可以利用对方可能预料不到自己五年后是否还在位的这一点来占据优势。
例如，在2030年，马刺队有权与明尼苏达森林狼队或达拉斯独行侠队互换首轮选秀权。多年前，他们获得这些权利的代价仅仅是放弃了一个后来变成罗伯·迪林厄姆 (Rob Dillingham) 的选秀权（交易给森林狼），以及同意接手雷吉·布洛克 (Reggie Bullock) 的合同（来自独行侠）。
在2031年，马刺队可以与国王队互换首轮选秀权。不知何故，莱特在一笔交易中顺带获得了这项特权，同时他还得到了哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes)，而付出的仅仅是一名鲜有机会上场的双向合同球员雷泉·格雷 (RaiQuan Gray)。
至于雷霆队呢？明年夏天，他们将拥有快船队的无保护首轮签，这仍然是2019年那笔保罗·乔治 (Paul George) 交易的红利，而那笔交易已经为他们带来了联盟MVP谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai-Gilgeous Alexander) 和全明星球员杰伦·威廉姆斯 (Jalen Williams)。
因此，当其他城市的混乱仍在继续时，也难怪这些“老江湖”们乐于袖手旁观。
一边，还盘算着怎么把那些新上任的家伙们叫到电话旁。
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。
点击查看原文：In NBA front-office drama, Spurs’ boring continuity has its benefits
In NBA front-office drama, Spurs’ boring continuity has its benefits
San Antonio Spurs’ first round draft pick Dylan Harper receives his jersey from general manager Brian Wright during a press conference to introduce the San Antonio Spurs’ 2025 Draft picks at Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio, Saturday, June 28, 2025. The Spurs and Thunder have been the model of stability for multiple decades and are once again reaping the benefits of other short-sighted front offices.
In Dallas, the reality TV star reportedly boxed out the former sneaker executive, while making a play for the trust of the casino magnate who now wants to get more involved.
In New Orleans, there is no doubt that the man in charge was robbed last summer. Whether the man in charge is really in charge, however, remains an open question.
In Los Angeles, the brand of drama depends on where you look. At one arena, a team governor remains in charge after two of her brothers were fired. At the other, an owner accused of arranging a multimillion-dollar no-show job braces for the results of an investigation that might push him out of the palace he built.
Meanwhile, in places like Oklahoma City and San Antonio?
The same-old, same-old keeps looking better.
Front-office continuity isn’t always a virtue, in and of itself. For evidence of that, you can take a look at the NFL team playing in the same Metroplex as the Mavericks. This will be the 30th year in a row the same owner and same general manager has led the Cowboys to an ending short of a conference title game, and as long as Jerry Jones is alive, that streak is a safe bet to live on, too.
But when an ownership group knows how to get out of the way and competent decision-makers know they’ll be around for the long term, it can give a franchise a huge advantage over competitors who don’t work that way.
Right now, for instance, the NBA’s Western Conference is littered with dumpster fires, and many of them will burn well past the tenures of the arsonists who set them in the first place.
While the same-old, same-old Thunder and Spurs stand to benefit for just as long.
Before we get to those details, it’s worth taking stock of some of the disarray. An in-depth ESPN report this week did a thorough job of documenting the long-unfolding dysfunction with the Mavericks, where chaos has reigned ever since “Shark Tank’s” Mark Cuban sold his majority ownership stake to the family that controls the Las Vegas Sands Corporation.
Per ESPN’s reporting, Cuban tried to retain a voice in basketball decisions after the sale, but was squeezed out by Nico Harrison, the former Nike executive Cuban had hired as general manager. Harrison earned the trust of new governor Patrick Dumont, then torched that trust with the disastrous Luka Doncic trade, giving Cuban an opening to stage what one ESPN source called “a palace coup.”
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, left, laughs next to general manager Sam Presti, right, after Game 5 of an NBA basketball Western Conference Finals playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Oklahoma City. The Spurs and Thunder have been the model of stability for multiple decades and are once again reaping the benefits of other short-sighted front offices.
Now, not every bad team in the Western Conference can match that in terms of intrigue, but some can give the Mavericks a run for their money. To move up from No. 23 to No. 13 in last June’s draft, New Orleans traded away an unprotected first-round pick — an unthinkable, outrageous price that looks worse every day. The Pelicans picked a promising player, Derik Queen, with that selection, but they’re also sitting in last place in the West, which means they might have given away a Top 3 pick in a draft loaded with potential superstars.
So who’s at fault? Well, identifying the culprit isn’t easy because even though Joe Dumars is officially the Pelicans’ general manager, he “seems to have outsourced nearly the entire job to former Detroit Pistons exec Troy Weaver,” per The Athletic.
In other words, it’s a mess, just like it is in Memphis, where the Grizzlies last year fired a coach, reportedly to appease a point guard who now seems even more unappeasable. It’s a mess in Sacramento, where both a coach and a general manager were fired, reportedly for failing to appease an owner who has trouble seeing beyond next week.
And it’s a mess with the Los Angeles Clippers, where beyond owner Steve Ballmer’s trouble with an NBA investigation into alleged salary-cap circumvention, one of the most expensive rosters in the league looks hopelessly ancient.
How does this relate back to places like Oklahoma City and San Antonio? Well, general manager Sam Presti has been running the Thunder for 18 years, since they were in Seattle. The Holt family has left Spurs basketball decisions to R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich (with Brian Wright added along the way) even longer than that.
That continuity comes with huge perks. When Presti or Wright discuss deals with front offices with less foresight, they can take advantage of the fact that their peers might not expect to be around in five years.
In 2030, for instance, the Spurs have the right to swap first-round picks with Minnesota, or with Dallas. Years ago, they acquired those rights simply by giving up a pick that became Rob Dillingham (to the Timberwolves) and by agreeing to absorb Reggie Bullock’s salary (from the Mavericks).
In 2031, the Spurs can swap first-round picks with the Kings. Somehow, Wright got that privilege thrown into a deal in which he also added Harrison Barnes, while giving up only a little-used two-way player named RaiQuan Gray.
And the Thunder? Next summer, they have the rights to the Clippers’ unprotected first-rounder, still benefiting from a 2019 Paul George deal that already netted them league Most Valuable Player Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and All-Star Jalen Williams.
So as the chaos in other cities continues, it’s no wonder why the same old guys enjoy watching.
While trying to get the new ones on the phone.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News