By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-06-27 15:25:45
2026年6月25日，星期四，圣安东尼奥，马刺新秀杰登·昆坦斯 (Jayden Quaintance) 在胜利资本表现中心的新闻发布会上，从马刺总经理布莱恩·莱特 (Brian Wright) 手中接过球衣。
午餐时，他们向那位轻声细语、留着灰色脏辫的50岁绅士表达了恰当的敬意，这让他们的祖父母倍感自豪。据说，他年轻时也曾是位篮球好手。
至少，马刺新秀们是这么听说蒂姆·邓肯的。
随后，当他们的家人鱼贯而入，坐到为他们预留的三排椅子上时，面对气球和欢呼的祝福者，每个人都笑容满面。这个下午不仅属于这些孩子，也属于每一位帮助他们来到圣安东尼奥的人，而球队也极尽所能，让他们感受到这里对他们的欢迎。
近年来，这些展示视频集锦、盛大排场的场面，已成为马刺队六月下旬的一项传统，但本周四却有所不同。
这一次，当总经理布莱恩·莱特向每位选秀球员赠送球衣时，这件球衣并未承载着一支球队的希望与梦想。
这一次，球队没有要求新秀们去唤醒过去。
这一次，他们只是来这里帮助延续现在。
这就是一支球队在打进NBA总决赛后，夏季优先事项的改变方式，尤其当球队拥有一套刚刚开始合作的年轻核心阵容时。在上周的选秀大会上，马刺不需要再增加一个能改变格局的球员。在本周自由球员市场开启时，他们同样也不需要。
他们最大的提升将来自内部。那么，他们会对杰登·昆坦斯、小塔里斯·里德 (Tarris Reed Jr.)，以及未来几天在自由市场上签下的任何人提出什么要求呢？
仅仅是准备好扮演一个角色，并在边缘位置进行补充。这应该就够了。
而且，如果周四的视频集锦成了公众在未来一年左右时间里，对昆坦斯和里德最深入的了解？那也许反而是件好事。
这曾是圣安东尼奥往日的夏季度过方式。从伊安·马辛米和蒂亚戈·斯普利特，到德章泰·穆雷和德里克·怀特，新秀们被选中后往往会暂时被遗忘，要么是因为他们还在欧洲履行合同，要么是在发展联盟磨练技术。虽然偶尔七月的签约期会带来一位首发球员，但更多时候是用来充实板凳席的替补力量。
这并不是因为马刺不够积极进取，而是因为他们相信自己所拥有的。
如今，这份信念回来了，并且有大量引人注目的证据支持。所以，即便与一年前不同，当时新秀迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 和卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 有机会且有必要立刻产生影响，如今马刺不再将期望建立在新人身上。
如果他们能找到一个价格适中的大前锋，在维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 身边提供一些额外的肌肉对抗，并分担一些上赛季哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 的上场时间？那很好。
如果他们想用一份小额合同签下一名额外的射手，或者签下一名能提供类似乔丹·麦克劳克林 (Jordan McLaughlin) 那种保险作用的老将控卫？那也很好。
如果这些签约者中有一两位最终就是巴恩斯和麦克劳克林，那也并非世界上最糟糕的事。哈珀和布莱恩特下赛季的出场时间都会大幅增加，所以马刺需要增加一些安于第三阵容角色的球员。
关键是，如果你正等着莱特今年夏天搞出什么大动静，那你很可能会失望。下赛季的马刺最重大的“引援”，很有可能是他们彼此之间的熟悉程度。
毕竟，冠军就是这样赢得的。刚刚在总决赛中击败马刺的尼克斯队，其得分前六的球员前一年全部都在尼克斯的名单上。2025年，冠军雷霆队得分前八的球员中，只有以赛亚·哈尔滕施泰因一人不是前一个赛季就在队中的。
所以，如果马刺最终在明年六月能多迈出一步，那大概不会是因为某个选秀权，或是签下了像约翰·科林斯这样的球员。一两个新人或许能贡献一些有意义的东西，但最大的进步将来自于文班亚马、哈珀和斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 更懂得如何应对一轮艰难的季后赛系列赛。
属于昆坦斯的时代终将到来，这位擅长盖帽的少年曾令人莞尔地透露，邓肯“是（他）祖父最喜欢的球员”。属于里德——这位曾随队闯入NCAA锦标赛决赛轮、仅一步之遥错失奖杯，并称已与新球队建立联系的康涅狄格大个子——的时代也终将到来。
但马刺能够在不依赖他们的情况下欢迎这些新人的加入。
而这，正是他们不介意重新拾起的那种昔日夏日传统。
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’ biggest summer splash might come from within
Why the Spurs’ biggest summer splash might come from within
San Antonio Spurs rookie Jayden Quaintance receives a jersey from Spurs general manager Brian Wright during a news conference at Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio, Thursday, June 25, 2026.
At lunch, they made their grandparents proud by paying proper respect to the softspoken 50-year-old gentleman with the gray dreadlocks. He’d been something of a basketball player himself, back in his day.
Or so the newest Spurs were told about Tim Duncan.
Later, their family members all beamed as they filed into the three rows of chairs reserved for them, in front of the balloons and cheering well-wishers. This was an afternoon not only for the kids, but also for everyone who’d helped get them to San Antonio, and the team pulled out all the stops to let them know they were welcome here.
In recent years, these displays of video montages, pomp and circumstance had become a late-June Spurs tradition, but Thursday it was different.
This time, when general manager Brian Wright presented each draft pick with a jersey, it came with neither the hopes nor the dreams of a franchise pinned upon it.
This time, the rookies were not being asked to reawaken the past
This time, they’re just here to help carry on with the present.
That’s how an organization’s summer priorities change once it’s made an NBA Finals, especially with a core of young stars just getting started together. The Spurs did not need to add a difference-maker at last week’s draft. They don’t need to add one when free agency opens this week, either.
Their biggest improvement will come from within. So what will they ask of Jayden Quaintance, and of Tarris Reed Jr., and of anyone they acquire on the open market in the next few days?
Only to be ready to play a role, and to fill in around the margins. That should be enough.
And if Thursday’s video montages turn out to be the most extensive looks the public gets at Quaintance and Reed for the next year or so? That might be a good thing.
This is the way summers used to be in San Antonio. From Ian Mahinmi and Tiago Splitter to Dejounte Murray and Derrick White, prospects were drafted to be temporarily forgotten, either because they were still playing out a contract in Europe or honing their skills in the developmental league. And while the occasional July signing period brought a starter into the fold, it was mostly used to fill out the bench with backups.
This wasn’t because the Spurs weren’t being aggressive enough. It was because they believed in what they had.
Now that belief is back, with plenty of high-profile evidence to support it. So unlike even a year ago, when there was an opportunity and a need for draftees Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant to make an immediate impact, the Spurs aren’t building their expectations around newcomers.
If they can find a moderately priced power forward to provide some extra muscle alongside Victor Wembanyama, and to soak up some of the minutes they gave to Harrison Barnes last year? Fine.
If they want to throw a small contract at an extra shooter, or at a veteran point guard who can provide the same kind of insurance policy that Jordan McLauglin did? That would be fine, too.
And if a couple of those signees turn out to be Barnes and McLaughlin, that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, either. Harper and Bryant both are going to play a lot more next season, so the Spurs are going to add some guys comfortable with third-team roles.
The point is, if you’re waiting for Wright to make a big splash this summer, you’re probably going to be disappointed. There’s a good chance that the most significant addition next season’s Spurs will have is their own familiarity with each other.
That is, after all, how championships are won. The top six scorers on the Knicks team that just beat the Spurs in the Finals were all on New York’s roster the year before. In 2025, Isaiah Hartenstein was the only one of the champion Thunder’s top eight scorers who wasn’t around the previous season.
So if the Spurs end up taking one extra step next June, it probably won’t be because of a draft pick, or because they signed someone like John Collins. A newcomer or two might contribute something meaningful, but the biggest improvement will come from Wembanyama, Harper and Stephon Castle knowing a little more about how to navigate a tough playoff series.
There will be a time for Quaintance, the shot-blocking teenager who infuriatingly revealed that Duncan “was (his) grandfather’s favorite player.” There will be a time for Reed, the Connecticut big man who said he already has a bond with his new team after making it to the final round of the NCAA tournament and coming up just short of a trophy.
But the Spurs were able to welcome the new kids without depending on them.
And that’s the kind of old summer tradition they don’t mind bringing back.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News