By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-12-04 16:39:45
圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) (1号) 与密尔沃基雄鹿队前锋扬尼斯·阿德托昆博 (Giannis Antetokounmpo) (34号) 于2025年1月31日，星期五，在德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥的弗罗斯特银行中心进行下半场比赛。马刺以144-118击败雄鹿。
操之过急，为时过早。七个月前，当马刺与扬尼斯·阿德托昆博联系在一起时，这是我的第一直觉，现在我的第一直觉依然如此。
圣安东尼奥完全没必要感到绝望。在这个冬天的交易截止日前，许多NBA球队都会被紧迫感所驱动，但对于一支计划在五年后，伴随着维克托·文班亚马、斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 和迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 集体进入巅峰期而启用市中心新球馆的球队来说，时间正站在他们这边。
然而，问题在于：无论马刺愿意与否，他们都将被卷入任何关于“希腊怪物”的潜在重磅交易中。用某个备受喜爱的加拿大强力三人摇滚乐队的话来说，即便你选择不做决定，你依然做出了选择。而马刺即将做出的这个选择，可能会重塑联盟未来五年的格局。
为什么现在需要他们来做决定？嗯，归根结底是这样：如果阿德托昆博真的如报道所言，决意寻求离开密尔沃基的交易，那么马刺是少数几支能为这位两届NBA最有价值球员向雄鹿提供一份极具吸引力报价的球队之一。
他们是少数几支兼具年轻天赋和富余选秀权的球队。同时，他们也是少数几支可能有动力阻止阿德托昆博加盟其他拥有类似资产的长期竞争者的球队之一。
这最后一点正是事情变得棘手的地方，也是由总经理布莱恩·莱特 (Brian Wright) 领导的马刺管理层在权衡大局的每一个细节时会格外谨慎之处。
马刺是否应该担心，如果他们现在不对阿德托昆博采取行动，他最终可能会去一个在未来三四年里让他们日子非常难过的地方，比如俄克拉荷马城或休斯顿？
或者，反其道而行之，这会是马刺想要看到的结果吗？如果雷霆——这支看起来准备统治2020年代余下时光的卫冕冠军——将他们未来的部分选秀权储备花在一个30岁的球员身上，这难道不会为保持耐心的圣安东尼奥在十年末期超越他们打开一个窗口期吗？
我理解为什么有些人可能会对这种想法犹豫不决。我理解为什么文班亚马与阿德托昆博联手的构想——这对组合拥有合计15英尺的臂展、天赋、个性以及拗口的姓名——是近乎无法抗拒的。我也理解，仅仅为了2028年到2035年可能取得的成功，不应该就自动否定掉一个在当下打造一支极具观赏性球队的机会。
而且我也明白，我可能低估了马刺为赢在当下所做的准备。早在五月份，我就曾指出，过去四分之一个世纪的NBA历史已经证明，如今没有哪个建队基石球员能在个人第七个赛季之前赢得总冠军，也没有任何一支球队能在经历六个赛季的季后赛荒之后，不经历几年季后赛的失败就一跃成为真正的冠军争夺者。
不过，也许马刺正处在一个能够改变这一定律的位置上。也许引进阿德托昆博能让冲击总决赛立刻成为现实。也许未来某天他们会为没有放手一搏而后悔。
但在周三晚上，一个简短的视频片段让我们瞥见了另一种噩梦般的场景。就在ESPN报道阿德托昆博计划与雄鹿讨论其未来，并由此在联盟中引发一连串交易流言的几小时后，他在对阵活塞的比赛刚开始三分钟时就抱着右小腿瘫倒在地板上。
结果只是拉伤，密尔沃基可能在几周内就能让他重返赛场。尽管如此，在这个有太多腿部高负荷的明星球员因重伤而缺席一年甚至更久的时代，再考虑到阿德托昆博近几个赛季也并非铁人，这次受伤不正是提醒我们，将一大批长期资产押注于单一的重磅资产上存在巨大风险吗？
要与密尔沃基达成交易，马刺至少需要送出三到四个首轮选秀权。他们还需要为了匹配薪金空间而加入哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 和至少另一份老将合同，但这还不够。雄鹿肯定会要求得到卡斯尔或哈珀中的一人。
在本赛季的第一个月里，这两人中的一个用表现有力地证明，在他荣膺联盟年度最佳新秀的那个赛季之后，他即将迎来一次巨大的飞跃。而在过去几周，另一个人则展现出了似乎更高的上限。
以我们对马刺的了解，他们真的有可能为了跳过球队的成长步骤而放弃卡斯尔或哈珀中的任何一个吗？
这会是一个艰难的决定。而如果马刺最终认定这笔交易操之过急、为时过早呢？
至少我个人，不会反对他们的这种直觉。
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) sticks close to Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) as the Spurs play defense in the first half at Frost Bank Center on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas.
San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) blocks Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) at the net during the third quarter at Frost Bank Center on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Bucks 144-118.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) goes up for a shot in the second half at Frost Bank Center on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Bucks 144-118.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) face each other in the first half at Frost Bank Center on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas.
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：San Antonio Spurs face a decision on Giannis Antetokounmpo trade
San Antonio Spurs face a decision on Giannis Antetokounmpo trade
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) play against each other in the second half at Frost Bank Center on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Bucks 144-118.
It’s too much, too soon. That was my first instinct when the Spurs were linked to Giannis Antetokounmpo seven months ago, and it’s my first instinct now.
There should be no desperation in San Antonio. Lots of NBA teams will be motivated by a sense of urgency before this winter’s trade deadline, but a franchise planning to open a new downtown arena with Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper hitting their collective peak in five years has time on its side.
Here’s the catch, though: the Spurs are involved in any potential Greek Freak blockbuster, whether they want to be or not. In the words of a certain beloved Canadian power trio, if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. And the choice the Spurs are about to make could reshape the league for the next half-decade.
Why is it on them to decide now? Well, it boils down to this: If Antetokounmpo follows through on his reported desire to seek a trade from Milwaukee, the Spurs are one of the few teams who can make the Bucks a compelling offer for the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player.
They’re one of the few teams with a combination of young talent and draft picks to spare. And they’re one of the few teams who might be motivated to keep Antetokounmpo away from the other long-term contenders with similar assets.
That last part is where this gets tricky, and it’s where a Spurs brain trust led by general manager Brian Wright will take great care in considering every detail of the bigger picture.
Should the Spurs worry that if they don’t act on Antetokounmpo now, he might end up in a place where he can make their lives miserable for the next three or four years, like in Oklahoma City or Houston?
Or, counterintuitively, should that be what the Spurs want? If the Thunder, the defending champs who already look poised to own the rest of the 2020s, spend a chunk of their future draft stockpile on a 30-year-old, won’t that open up a window for a patient San Antonio to overtake them by the end of the decade?
I understand why some might balk at that kind of thinking. I understand why the idea of a Wembanyama-Antetokounmpo pairing — with its 15 combined feet of wingspan and talent and personality and syllables — is borderline irresistible. I understand that the mere possibility of success from 2028 to 2035 shouldn’t automatically outweigh the opportunity to build something really fun today.
And I also understand I might have undersold the Spurs’ readiness to win. Back in May, I pointed out that the last quarter-century of NBA history had proven that no franchise players win titles before their seventh season in the league anymore, and that no team ever goes from a six-season playoff drought to serious title contention without at least a few years of postseason failure in between.
Maybe the Spurs are positioned to change that, though. Maybe adding Antetokounmpo would make a Finals trip a real possibility, right away. And maybe someday they’ll regret not going for it.
But Wednesday night, one short video clip provided a glimpse of a different nightmare scenario. Just hours after ESPN reported Antetokounmpo was planning to discuss his future with the Bucks, setting off a flurry of trade speculation around the league, he crumpled to the floor three minutes into a game against the Pistons, holding his right calf.
It turned out to be just a strain, and Milwaukee could get him back on the floor in a matter of weeks. Still, in an era when so many star players with extra mileage on their legs have been lost for a year or more with serious injuries, and considering that Antetokounmpo hasn’t exactly been an iron man in recent seasons, wasn’t this a reminder about the risk of turning a boatload of long-term assets into a single big one?
To pull off a deal with Milwaukee, the Spurs would have to start with three or four first-round picks. They’d need to include Harrison Barnes and at least one other veteran contract for salary-cap purposes, but that wouldn’t be enough. The Bucks surely would demand either Castle or Harper.
During the first month of this season, one of those two guys was making a convincing case that he was about to take a giant leap from a season in which he was named the league’s Rookie of the Year. Over the past few weeks, the other guy has made it look like his ceiling is even higher.
Knowing everything we do about the Spurs, does it seem even remotely possible they would give up either Castle or Harper in order to skip competitive steps?
That would be a tough sell. And if the Spurs decide it’s too much, too soon?
I, for one, wouldn’t argue with that instinct.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News