By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-06-24 16:42:15
2026年6月10日星期三，在纽约麦迪逊广场花园球场，NBA总决赛对阵纽约尼克斯的第四场比赛前夕，圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 在训练期间与球队总经理布赖恩·莱特交谈。
如果到了2028年，杰登·昆坦斯 (Jayden Quaintance) 还没有在维克托·文班亚马身边打上首发，布赖恩·莱特 (Brian Wright) 也不会因此丢掉工作。而这恰恰是昆坦斯之所以能来圣安东尼奥的一个重要原因。
无论如何，莱特在未来许多年里都将继续执掌马刺队的管理层，这让他能够在选秀夜做出许多同行总经理无法做出的赌博性选择。
毕竟，当你确信自己会是球队未来的一份子时，为长远做打算就变得容易多了。
这是马刺队在NBA中享有的最被低估的优势之一，而且很奇怪为什么至今没有更多球队意识到这一点。在这个球队更换决策者如同换运动袜一样频繁的联盟里，耐心不仅是一种美德。
它简直是一种“超能力”。
而且，即便无法保证，在今夜用首轮签选中一个膝盖有伤病的、天赋异禀的年轻人，在两三年后看起来是否比今晚的选择更明智？按照马刺队的一贯作风，他们为自己创造了一个机会，一个在长期博弈中大获全胜的机会。
他们理应擅长此道。毕竟，他们玩这种“长线游戏”已经有些年头了。
不知怎么的，距离马刺队上一次解雇总经理或主教练，已经过去了将近30年。在职业体育界，这简直就像是没有博彩广告的世界一样令人难以置信。
但请想一想，工作保障对于一位知道自己必须承担所有行动后果（无论好坏）的高管来说意味着什么。再想一想，这样的体系或许更有利于一个组织的发展方向，这个组织不必总是纠结于如何在下次新闻发布会上取胜，或是在隔夜的NBA选秀评分中获得高分。
别搞错了：如果马刺队在本周二晚上的选秀中采取更常规的策略，他们在那些评分者那里绝对能拿到高得多的分数。用20号签选中墨西哥的卡里姆·洛佩兹会让全国的选秀专家和马刺的市场部门欢欣鼓舞，而在第26顺位拿下休斯顿的小克里斯·塞纳克也会很受欢迎。
而现在，马刺队将冒着“昆坦斯优于洛佩兹”以及小塔里斯·里德优于塞纳克的选择永远被质疑的风险，就像他们之前押注卢卡·沙马尼奇和约书亚·普里莫时遭遇的情况一样。
有时候选秀专家是对的。有时候传统观点也是对的。但马刺队之所以在管理层雇佣了一大批真正聪明且无比细致的球探评估人员，不是因为他们得出的公式与ESPN.com的排名一致。
如果这些真正聪明、无比细致的球探评估人员说，昆坦斯那惊人的天赋值得冒受伤的风险，莱特有什么理由不信任他们？如果他们又说，对于一支急需内线尺寸的球队来说，里德在文班亚马身后的潜在适配性实在太好了，不容错过，莱特又怎么会在乎这个选择第二天早上在某全国性网站上被评了个C-？
并非每个总经理都能带着这种自由度和心安来工作。远见卓识在球队建设中可能是一个巨大的优势，而且不仅仅体现在选秀上。
2022年，莱特同意将德章泰·穆雷送到亚特兰大，当时那里的新任总经理兰德里·菲尔兹刚上任不久。作为交换，老鹰给了马刺队三个未来首轮签的选择权。明年，莱特将做出第三个选择。顺便说一句，菲尔兹早就离职了。
2023年，莱特同意从达拉斯独行侠总经理尼科·哈里森手中接下雷吉·布洛克，以帮助独行侠完成交易得到格兰特·威廉姆斯。莱特索要的全部回报，就是在2030年互换首轮选秀权的机会。
2024年，莱特故技重施，介入帮助萨克拉门托国王与芝加哥公牛完成德马尔·德罗赞的交易。是的，莱特表态，马刺很高兴能基本上免费获得哈里森·巴恩斯——一位在急缺位置上能有所贡献的老将，但前提是国王总经理蒙特·麦克奈尔同意在2031年互换选秀权。
当然，哈里森和麦克奈尔都答应了这些要求，他们有什么理由不答应呢？他们根本没理由相信自己能在那个位置上待到那么久，而事实证明，他俩确实都没有。
从某种意义上说，周二晚上的选秀只是莱特利用马刺队内部稳定性的又一个例子，这与萨姆·普雷斯蒂治下的俄克拉荷马城雷霆队如出一辙。圣安东尼奥有九名轮换球员来自那支打进了NBA总决赛的队伍，他们不需要昆坦斯立刻就能做出贡献。而且球队智囊团里也没有人需要去证明什么。
莱特自2019年起担任总经理。他的前任、现任CEO R.C. 布福德已经在这支球队工作了三十多年。在选秀过程中备受信赖的助理总经理戴夫·特莱普，也正经历他在球队的第13个赛季。选择昆坦斯并不会成就或毁掉他们中的任何人。
“我们相信他会有一个漫长的职业生涯，”莱特说，“而我们可以帮助他走向成功。”
这要多亏了那种在NBA里极少有人拥有的“超能力”。
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 patience is a team-building superpower for Brian Wright and Spurs
Why patience is a team-building superpower for Brian Wright and Spurs
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama talks with Spurs general manager Brian Wright during practice at Madison Square Garden in New York, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, ahead of Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks.
If Jayden Quaintance isn’t starting alongside Victor Wembanyama by 2028, it won’t cost Brian Wright his job. That’s a big reason why Quaintance is coming to San Antonio in the first place.
No matter what, Wright will be calling the shots in the Spurs’ front office for years to come, which enables him to take the kind of draft night swings many of his fellow general managers can’t.
After all, it’s a lot easier to plan for the future when you know you’re going to be part of it.
This is one of the most underrated advantages the Spurs enjoy in the NBA, and it’s a wonder that more teams haven’t figured it out yet. In a league where franchises churn through decision makers like gym socks, patience isn’t just a virtue.
It’s a superpower.
And even though there’s no guarantee that using a first-round draft pick on a high-flying kid with a balky knee will look smarter in two or three years than it did Tuesday night? As per their custom, the Spurs gave themselves a chance to come out way ahead in the long game.
They should be good at it. They’ve been playing it for a while now.
Somehow, it’s been just shy of 30 years since the last time the Spurs fired either a general manager or a head coach. In professional sports, that’s as unthinkable as a world without gambling ads.
But think about what job security can mean for an executive who knows he’ll have to deal with the consequences of his actions, whether good or bad. Think about the way such a setup might bode better for the direction of an organization that isn’t always worried about winning the next press conference, or faring well in the next set of overnight NBA draft grades.
Make no mistake about it: The Spurs could have scored a lot better among those graders had they taken a more conventional approach to Tuesday’s draft. Selecting Mexico’s Karim Lopez with the No. 20 pick would have elated the national draftniks and the Spurs’ marketing department, and taking Houston’s Chris Cenac Jr. at No. 26 would have been popular, too.
And now, the Spurs run the risk of having Quaintance-over-Lopez and Tarris Reed Jr.-over-Cenac forever second-guessed, the same way previous swings on Luka Samanic and Josh Primo were.
Sometimes the draftniks are right. Sometimes conventional wisdom is, too. But there’s a reason the Spurs employ a bunch of really smart people and really meticulous personnel evaluators in their front office, and it’s not because their formulas fall in line with the rankings on ESPN.com.
If those really smart people and really meticulous personnel evaluators say that Quaintance’s overwhelming talent is worth the injury risk, why wouldn’t Wright trust them? If they say that Reed’s potential fit behind Wembanyama is too good for a team in need of size to pass up, why would Wright care if that pick gets him a C-minus on a national website the next morning?
Not every general manager works with that kind of freedom, or with that kind of peace of mind. Foresight can be a huge edge in team-building, and not just when it comes to the draft.
In 2022, Wright agreed to send Dejounte Murray to Atlanta, where a new general manager, Landry Fields, was just taking over. In exchange, the Hawks gave the Spurs the right to take three of their future first round picks. Next year, Wright will make the third of those selections. Fields, by the way, is long gone.
In 2023, Wright agreed to take Reggie Bullock’s off of Dallas general manager Nico Harrison’s hands to help facilitate a Mavericks’ trade for Grant Williams. All Wright asked in return was the chance to swap picks in 2030.
In 2024, Wright pulled off a similar feat in stepping in to help Sacramento in a deal with Chicago for DeMar DeRozan. Yes, Wright said, the Spurs would be happy to take the services of Harrison Barnes, a productive veteran at a position of need, essentially for free, but only if Sacramento general manager Monte McNair would agree to a pick swap in 2031.
Of course both Harrison and McNair gave in to those requests, and why wouldn’t they? They had no reason to believe they’d be around that long, and neither one of them were.
And in a way, Tuesday’s draft was just another example of Wright exploiting the Spurs’ continuity, much like Oklahoma City has done under general manager Sam Presti. San Antonio has nine rotation players coming back from a team that made the NBA Finals, and it doesn’t need Quaintance to produce right away. And nobody in the team’s brain trust needs to prove a point.
Wright has been the general manager since 2019. CEO R.C. Buford, Wright’s predecessor, has been in the organization more than three decades. Assistant general manager Dave Telep, a trusted voice in the draft process, is in his 13th season. The Quaintance pick is not going to make or break any of them.
“We believe that he’s someone that will have a long career,” Wright said, “and we can help him get there.”
Thanks to the superpower so few in the NBA have.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News