By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-01-06 16:23:53
圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 在2025年2月16日（周日）于旧金山举行的NBA全明星赛上，隔着队友特雷·杨 (Trae Young) 完成扣篮。(美联社照片/杰德·雅各布森)
本赛季的西部全明星票王在11个月前被交易。而东部全明星票王，或许用不了11个月，也同样会被交易。
至于那位在2020年代获得东部后卫中最多全明星选票的球员？现代NBA残酷的人员流动，其无情之处正在于此。
不知何故，特雷·杨 (Trae Young) 很快将成为奇才队一员的可能性，并非为零。
你或许会说，马刺是躲过一劫的球队之一，尽管这颗“子弹”当时离圣安东尼奥并不算近。正如我们先前在关于杨的重磅交易流言甚嚣尘上之时所提到的，马刺从未将这位亚特兰大后卫视为与维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 搭档的合适人选，一笔针对达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 的规模较小的交易对他们来说始终更具意义。
显然，市场已经认定这一判断是正确的。在ESPN、The Athletic等多家媒体报道老鹰和杨在合作七年多后正共同寻求促成一笔交易之际，引人注目的是，这位曾带领亚特兰大杀入分区决赛的四届全明星球员，似乎并未受到太多争冠球队的青睐。
而如果他最终的归宿是像华盛顿这样的地方，那将再次提醒NBA各支球队，追逐当下炙手可热的明星球员存在着怎样的风险。
让我们回到NBA周二公布的全明星投票总数中，前文提到的那几位票王。在从独行侠转投湖人的那笔惊天动地的交易发生后不到一年，卢卡·东契奇 (Luka Doncic) 的得票数冠绝西部，并且是联盟最有价值球员奖的领跑者之一。
但相比于在达拉斯，他在洛杉矶距离重返NBA总决赛更近了吗？即便湖人毫无疑问地赢得了那笔交易，这能保证他们赢得其他任何荣誉吗？
这是联盟各队管理层在决定是否要加入东部全明星票王——密尔沃基雄鹿队的扬尼斯·阿德托昆博 (Giannis Antetokounmpo) 的潜在竞购战时，应该扪心自问的问题之一。
是的，他已经证明了自己能带领一支球队夺得总冠军，这是东契奇或杨都无法企及的成就。而且，他的价值也应该不会暴跌到人们会认真考虑将他送到华盛顿换取CJ·麦科勒姆 (CJ McCollum) 的地步。
尽管如此，他的巅峰期极有可能已经过去，这意味着任何为得到他而付出巨大代价的球队，或许把资源用于自己培养赢家会比直接购买一个更好。
看看目前的联盟排名，俄克拉荷马雷霆和圣安东尼奥马刺位居西部前列，而底特律活塞和波士顿凯尔特人则在东部名列前茅。
这些球队的共同点在于，他们都通过自己的选秀进行了长远布局，你甚至可以更进一步说：这四支球队在构建阵容过程中所做的最重大的交易，是俄克拉荷马雷霆与快船完成的那一笔——当时雷霆是出售超级巨星的一方。
作为交易保罗·乔治 (Paul George) 的回报，他们不仅得到了最终的FMVP谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)，还有一位精英级副手杰伦·威廉姆斯 (Jalen Williams)，外加一个未来潜在的乐透签。
当然，并非每笔大交易都会让买家最终自食其果。例如，多伦多猛龙对于得到科怀·伦纳德 (Kawhi Leonard) 并使用一个赛季毫无悔意。湖人队，尽管阵容仍有缺陷，但他们会毫不犹豫地再做一次东契奇的交易，如果需要，他们甚至愿意买下据报道中尼科·哈里森 (Nico Harrison) 提出那致命报价的达拉斯咖啡店，以确保交易再次发生。或许，得到阿德托昆博的球队最终也会有同样的感觉。
但看看投票总数和联盟排名，你很容易理解为什么一些最有前途和潜力的球队可能会倾向于抵制这种冲动。我们也能理解，为何像雷霆、马刺和火箭这样的强队——他们都可能拥有完成超级交易的资产——或许会决定，避开这场人员流动的漩涡才是更好的选择。
然后，让别人去处理下一个“当红炸子鸡”人气滑落的麻烦事。
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) walks on the court against the San Antonio Spurs during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) works against San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) moves past San Antonio Spurs De’Aaron Fox (4) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) passes around San Antonio Spurs De’Aaron Fox (4) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
由生成式 AI 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：Why Trae Young, Spurs show the best trades often are the ones not made
Why Trae Young, Spurs show the best trades often are the ones not made
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama dunks past teammate Trae Young during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
This season’s leading All-Star vote-getter in the Western Conference was traded 11 months ago. The leading All-Star vote-getter in the Eastern Conference might have less than 11 months before he’s traded, too.
As for the man who’s earned more All-Star votes than any guard in the East during the 2020s? This is where the relentless churn of the modern NBA really shows how unforgiving it can be.
Somehow, there’s a nonzero chance that Trae Young soon will be a Wizard.
You might say the Spurs were among the teams who dodged that bullet, even though the bullet wasn’t particularly close to landing in San Antonio. As mentioned in this space back in the days when blockbuster Young speculation was hitting its fever pitch, the Spurs never saw the Atlanta guard as the right fit alongside Victor Wembanyama, and a more modest deal for De’Aaron Fox always made more sense.
The market, apparently, has decided that assessment was correct. Amid reports from ESPN, The Athletic and others that the Hawks and Young are working together to facilitate a trade after more than seven years together, what’s striking is that the four-time All-Star who once carried Atlanta to the conference finals doesn’t appear to be coveted by many contenders.
And if he ends up in a place like Washington? It will serve as another reminder to NBA teams about the perils of chasing the star of the moment.
Let’s go back to those aforementioned leaders in the All-Star vote totals announced by the NBA on Tuesday. Less than a year after the thunderbolt of a trade that sent him from the Mavericks to the Lakers, Luka Doncic has more votes than anyone in the West, and he’s among the front runners for the league’s Most Valuable Player award.
But is he any closer to a return trip to the NBA Finals in Los Angeles than he was in Dallas? And even if the Lakers unquestionably won that trade, does it guarantee they’ll win anything else?
That’s one of the questions league front offices should be asking themselves when it comes to deciding whether to venture into the potential bidding for the leading All-Star vote-getter in the East, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Yes, he’s already proven he can lift a franchise to a championship, which is more than either Doncic or Young can claim. And no, he’s probably not in any danger of having his value plummet to the point where people seriously entertain the idea of shipping him to Washington for CJ McCollum.
Still, there’s an excellent chance his best days are behind him, which means that any team that pays what figures to be an immense price for his services might be better off trying to build a winner rather than buying one.
Look at the current league standings, which feature Oklahoma City and San Antonio atop the West and Detroit and Boston atop the East.
The common thread among all of them is that they all played the long game through their own drafts, and you can take it even one step further: The most significant trade that any of those four teams made in building their rosters was the one Oklahoma City pulled off with the Clippers, when the Thunder were the ones selling the superstar.
For Paul George, they wound up not only with an eventual Finals MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but also an elite sidekick in Jalen Williams, plus a potential lottery pick to come.
Now, granted, not every big trade blows up in the face of the buyer the way that one did. Toronto, for instance, has no regrets about acquiring Kawhi Leonard for a season. The Lakers, as flawed as they remain, would redo the Doncic trade in a heartbeat, and would buy the Dallas coffee shop where Nico Harrison reportedly made the fateful offer if that’s what it took to make it happen again. And maybe the team that acquires Antetokounmpo will wind up feeling the same way.
But looking at the vote totals and the standings, it’s easy to see why some of the teams with the most promise and most potential might be inclined to resist that urge. It’s understandable why powers including the Thunder, the Spurs, and the Rockets – who each conceivably have the assets to pull off a megadeal – might decide they’re better off avoiding the churn.
And letting someone else deal with the slide of the next star of the moment.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News