为何马刺在周二的选秀大会上对两名大个子球员下了赌注
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-06-23 21:32:50
资料照片 - 2026年1月3日，在阿拉巴马州塔斯卡卢萨举行的一场NCAA大学篮球比赛下半场，阿拉巴马大学后卫小拉特雷尔·莱特塞尔 (Latrell Wrightsell Jr.)（3号）与肯塔基大学前锋杰登·昆滕斯 (Jayden Quaintance)（右）争抢篮板球。（美联社照片/Vasha Hunt，资料图）
杰登·昆滕斯 (Jayden Quaintance) 听说过维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 那些最精彩的球场表现。他甚至可能看过其中一些的录像。
这位肯塔基大学中锋在周二的NBA选秀大会上被马刺以首轮第20顺位选中，他已经迫不及待地想要和这位圣安东尼奥的新晋全明星队友一较高下了。
在篮球场上？当然。
在国际象棋盘上？那毫无疑问。
“我还没来得及和我的很多新队友交过手，”身高6尺9寸的昆滕斯说道，他将是本赛季马刺更衣室里第二高的国际象棋爱好者。“所以那会很有趣。”
然而，在2026年NBA选秀的第一晚，马刺总经理布莱恩·莱特 (Brian Wright) 才是那个模仿加里·卡斯帕罗夫 (Garry Kasparov) 走棋的人，他做出了一系列大胆的操作，旨在为球队的又一次NBA总决赛之旅补强阵容。
马刺不仅用20号签选中了昆滕斯——一位技术精湛但饱受伤病困扰的大个子，上赛季在大学仅出战四场比赛——他们还通过交易获得了另一个首轮签，送出了三个次轮签给丹佛掘金，换来了在第26顺位选中6尺10寸的康涅狄格大学中锋小塔里斯·里德 (Tarris Reed Jr.) 的权利。
马刺总经理布莱恩·莱特谈马刺选中杰登·昆滕斯和塔里斯·里德 pic.twitter.com/yBYiwaKXim
— Spurs Nation (@ Spurs_Nation) 2026年6月24日
对于莱特来说，马刺在周二为阵容增添两名强壮的内线球员并非巧合。
“你们可以看到我们是有针对性的，”莱特说。“我们增加了几个大块头——身体对抗强、运动能力出色，我们也认为他们有着非常好的上升空间。我们很高兴能将这两位年轻人纳入球队。”
确实，马刺在选秀首轮的策略或许可以这样概括：要么选大个子，要么回家。
两位新秀来到马刺都带有一定的赌博性质。
对于昆滕斯而言，这场赌博全在于健康。
18岁的昆滕斯是今年选秀中最具争议的潜力股之一，他拥有乐透签级别的天赋，但其伤病史让他的最终顺位充满疑问。
在亚利桑那州立大学充满希望的大一赛季因右膝前十字韧带撕裂而告终后，昆滕斯上赛季转学至肯塔基大学。他在野猫队总共只打了四场比赛，就因膝盖酸痛而休战。
作为一名前五星高中生和麦当劳全美最佳球员，昆滕斯在两个大学的28场比赛中，场均得到7.2分、6.5个篮板和1.7次盖帽。
持续的膝盖问题在选秀前的准备过程中一直困扰着昆滕斯。他周二表示，在开始他的NBA生涯之前，他仍需要进行一次清理手术来修复部分半月板损伤。
对此他已经迫不及待了。
“显然，去年我未能如愿展示出我所能做到的一切，”昆滕斯说。“所以，就是要证明我属于那些顶尖球员中的一员，证明我本应（在选秀中）被更高顺位选中，向所有错过我的球队证明这一点——这就是我最原始的想法。”
马刺显然相信昆滕斯值得一赌，尤其是在首轮的后三分之一顺位。
他们将昆滕斯在亚利桑那州立大学的录像——他只打了24场比赛就创下了校史新生盖帽纪录——视为他未来可能在NBA带来何种表现的预兆。
“他拥有极其、极其出众的天赋，不幸的是那个（赛季）因伤有些缩短了，”莱特说。“如果不是这样，也许我们就没有机会选到他了。”
莱特表示，在听取了马刺医疗团队对昆滕斯康复前景的评估后，管理层感到放心。
“我们相信他会拥有一个漫长的职业生涯，”莱特说，“而且我们能帮助他达成这一目标。”
昆滕斯是今年选秀池中最年轻的球员。而在22岁的里德身上，马刺则选中了其中一位最年长的球员。
2026年3月29日，星期日，在华盛顿举行的NCAA大学篮球锦标赛精英八强赛中，康涅狄格大学前锋小塔里斯·里德 (Tarris Reed Jr.)（5号）在球队战胜杜克大学后庆祝。（美联社照片/Abbie Parr）
里德在大四赛季场均贡献14.7分、9.0个篮板、2.3次助攻和2次盖帽，是康涅狄格大学的内线支柱，该校在NCAA全国锦标赛决赛中输给了密歇根大学。
他在康涅狄格大学首轮战胜弗曼大学的比赛中，砍下了怪兽级的31分和27个篮板。
里德是过去三年中马刺在首轮选中的第二位康涅狄格大学球员，加入了斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 的行列。据里德说，他和卡斯尔都带有同样坚韧的康涅狄格作风。
“这是一种丑陋、充满拼劲的比赛风格，能够把我所拥有的东西展现出来，”里德说，他在密歇根大学打了两年，之后在康涅狄格大学度过了最后两年大学生涯。“我觉得康涅狄格大学真的帮助我把这一点展现到了聚光灯下，让世人都看到了我拥有怎样的比赛风格。”
马刺为了选中里德不得不付出选秀资产，他们将周三次轮的第35号签，以及2028年和2031年的未来次轮签送给了掘金，换来了这个第26顺位的选秀权。
球队在周三仍握有两个次轮签，分别是第42和第44顺位。
随着马刺在NBA总决赛中输给纽约的失利仍然历历在目——选秀大会仅在第五场比赛结束10天后举行——莱特表示，整个季后赛期间对抗强度的提升给他留下了深刻印象。
这也影响到了马刺周二走出的这步棋。
“我们都感受到了，”莱特说。“我认为我们的球队在每一轮系列赛中，无论是如何提升自身水平，还是如何适应并打出自己的对抗强度方面，都有所提高。而且我认为我们（周二）增加的这两名球员都能做到这一点。”
昆滕斯并不是唯一一个渴望见到文班亚马的新马刺球员。
热爱阅读的里德表示，他正要开始读《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》，这部1988年由巴西作家保罗·科埃略 (Paulo Coelho) 创作的小说，正是文班亚马在马刺季后赛期间大部分时间都在研读的书。
“我还没读过，”里德说，“但我听说它真的很棒。”
在球场之外，马刺最新的这两位选秀球员似乎与球队最重要的球员完美契合。如果这种化学反应能像马刺所相信的那样在球场上延续下去，那对联盟其他球队来说可能就意味着“将死”。
“我们很高兴得到这两名我们觉得不仅现在，而且未来也真正能帮助到球队的球员，”莱特说。
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：Why the Spurs rolled the dice on a pair of big men in Tuesday's draft
Why the Spurs rolled the dice on a pair of big men in Tuesday’s draft
FILE - Alabama guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (3) battles for a rebound with Kentucky forward Jayden Quaintance, right, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Jan. 3, 2026, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt, File)
Jayden Quaintance has heard tale of Victor Wembanyama’s best moves. He might have even seen film of some of them.
The Kentucky center, who the Spurs selected with the 20th overall pick in Tuesday’s NBA draft, cannot wait until he finally gets to do battle with his new All-Star teammate in San Antonio.
On the basketball court? Sure.
On the chessboard? Most definitely.
“I haven’t got to play a bunch of my teammates,” said Quiantance, who at 6-foot-9 stands to be the second-tallest chess aficionado on in the Spurs’ locker room this season. “So that would be a fun one.”
On the first night of the 2026 NBA draft, however, it was Spurs general manager Brian Wright who took his turn mimicking Garry Kasparov, with a pair of bold maneuvers meant to bolster his team’s roster for another NBA Finals run.
Not only did the Spurs use the 20th pick on Quaintance — a highly skilled but injury plagued big man who appeared in only four college games last season — they also traded for another first-round pick, sending three second-round picks to Denver for the right to select 6-foor-10 Connecticut center Tarris Reed Jr. at No. 26 overall.
Spurs GM Brian Wright on the Spurs picks of Jayden Quaintance and Tarris Reed pic.twitter.com/yBYiwaKXim
— Spurs Nation (@ Spurs_Nation) June 24, 2026
For Wright, the fact the Spurs added a pair of bruising big men to the roster Tuesday was no coincidence.
“You can see we had a type,” Wright said. “We added a couple of big bodies — physical, athletic, we also think with really good upsides. We’re excited to add both young men to the program.”
Indeed, the Spurs’ approach to the first round of the draft might be best summarized this way: Go big, or go home.
Both rookies come to the Spurs as a little bit of a gamble.
For Quaintance, the dice-roll is all about health.
The 18-year-old Quaintance entered this year’s draft as one of its most polarizing prospects, a lottery-level talent whose injury history raised questions about where he would land.
After a promising freshman campaign at Arizona State ended with a torn right ACL, Quaintance transferred to Kentucky last season. He appeared in all of four games with the Wildcats before being shut down with knee soreness.
A former five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American, Quaintance averaged 7.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 28 games between his two college stops.
Ongoing knee concerns dogged Quaintance during the pre-draft process. He said Tuesday he still needs a clean-up surgery to repair some meniscus damage before he can begin his NBA career.
He is chomping at the bit for that.
“Obviously, I didn’t get to show everything I could do as much as I wanted to last year,” Quiantance said. “So just getting to prove that I belong as one of those top guys, prove that I should have been (drafted) higher and just make a point to all the teams that passed up on me — that’s the original emotion.”
The Spurs clearly believed Quiantance was worth the gamble, especially in the back third of the first round.
They view Quaintance’s tape from Arizona State — where he set a school freshman record for blocks while appearing in only 24 games — as a harbinger of what he might bring to the NBA.
“He’s got tremendous, tremendous talent and unfortunately that (season) was cut short a little bit due to injury,” Wright said. “Had it not been, maybe we don’t have the opportunity to draft him.”
Wright said the front-office group was comfortable what they heard from the Spurs’ medical staff on Quaintance’s prognosis.
“We believe he’s someone that will have a long career,” Wright said, “and we can help him get there.”
Quaintance was the youngest player in this year’s draft pool. In the 22-year-old Reed, the Spurs also nabbed one of the oldest.
UConn forward Tarris Reed Jr. (5) reacts after the team’s win against Duke in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Reed averaged 14.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and two blocks per game as a senior, anchoring a UConn team that lost to Michigan in the NCAA national championship game.
He had a monster 31 points and 27 rebounds in UConn’s first-round win over Furman.
Reed is the second UConn player the Spurs have selected in the first round in the past three years, joining Stephon Castle. To hear Reed tell it, he and Castle are cut from the same rugged Connecticut cloth.
“It’s an ugly, gritty game, being able to bring what I got to the table,” said Reed, who played two years at Michigan before finishing his college career with two years at Connecticut. “I feel like UConn really helped me put that in the limelight, help everyone in the world see what type of game I have.”
The Spurs had to expend draft capital to select Reed, giving Denver the No. 35 pick in Wednesday’s second round and well as future second-round picks in 2028 and 2031 in exchange for the 26th overall pick.
The club still has two second-round picks to use Wednesday, No. 42 and No. 44 overall.
With the Spurs’ loss to New York in the NBA Finals still fresh — the draft came only 10 days after Game 5 — Wright said the uptick in physicality throughout the playoffs is something that stuck with him.
It played into the chess moves the Spurs made Tuesday.
“We all felt it,” Wright said. “I thought our team raised our level across each series and how we adapted and how we brought our own physicality. And I think both guys that we added (Tuesday) do that.”
Quiantance is not the only new Spur eager to meet with Wembanyama.
An avid reader, Reed said he is about to begin “The Alchemist,” a 1988 novel by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho that Wembanyama spent most of the Spurs’ playoff run perusing.
“I haven’t read it yet,” Reed said, “but I heard it’s really good.”
Off the court, the Spurs’ newest two draft picks seem a perfect fit alongside the team’s most important player. If that chemistry continues the way the Spurs believe it will on the court, it could mean checkmate for the rest of the league.
“We’re excited to get a couple guys that we think can really help our team now — and also into the future,” Wright said.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News
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