Deandre Ayton fits with LeBron, Luka and the Lakers on the court. Will that be enough? https://reurl.cc/axlZ47 湖人記者Dan Woike撰文談到球隊新援Deandre Ayton，原文很長以下節錄部分 On paper, Ayton makes the Lakers better. He’s the kind of talent that could c onvince LeBron James the Lakers are for real about competing for a title and t he kind of weapon that has Doncic excited about the partnership. 在紙面上，Ayton的加盟讓湖人變得更強。他是一位有實力的球員，足以讓LBJ相信球隊真 的有意爭奪總冠軍，同時也是一個能讓77對未來搭檔感到興奮的武器。 But basketball isn’t a sport played on paper. It’s 48 minutes on the court t hat come after hours inside the practice facility, on training tables, in airp lanes and in film sessions. The best teams make plays on the court because the y limit their mistakes off them. 但籃球不是在紙上打的比賽。這是一場場48分鐘的比賽，而這些比賽之前，是無數個小時 的訓練、治療、飛行以及戰術影片分析。最好的球隊之所以能在場上完成高水準的表現， 是因為他們在場下把錯誤降到最低。 And with that in mind, it’s reasonable to remember how the Lakers managed to get Ayton on their roster in the first place. 也正因如此，值得回顧一下湖人究竟是如何將Ayton招致麾下的。 Entering this offseason with the sort of parallel goals of improving last year ’s team while also keeping enough flexibility to build out the best possible roster for Doncic moving forward, Ayton’s signing somehow accomplishes both. It does so, of course, because Portland is paying Ayton $26 million-ish to pla y against the Trail Blazers (and to do so for a franchise its fans hate). 這個休賽季，湖人同時肩負兩個目標：一方面要改善上賽季的陣容，另一方面也要保留足 夠的彈性，為77打造未來最佳陣容。而簽下Ayton，某種程度上同時實現了這兩個目標。 這之所以成為可能，是因為波特蘭正在支付Ayton約 26M的薪水，讓他來對抗拓荒者（並 且為一支拓荒者球迷深惡痛絕的球隊效力）。 Ayton was only ever in Portland to begin with because the Suns also didn’t wa nt him as part of their plans and were happy to swap him out for Jusuf Nurkic. The Athletic’s Jason Quick detailed the ways Ayton failed to meet Portland’ s standards after his buyout from the Trail Blazers. And in Los Angeles, the s potlight is going to be brighter and the stakes are going to be higher. 當初Ayton之所以出現在波特蘭，是因為太陽不再將他納入未來規劃，樂意將他換成Jusuf Nurkic。《The Athletic》的記者Jason Quick 曾詳細描述了Ayton在與拓荒者買斷後， 是如何未能達到球隊的期待。而在洛杉磯，鎂光燈會更加耀眼，壓力也會更大。 But while timing isn’t everything — it’s close. And the Lakers might be get ting Ayton at the perfect time. Doncic has already trimmed down ahead of EuroB asket, a massive chip on his shoulder after having his work ethic and commitme nt questioned after his trade to the Lakers. Austin Reaves is entering the mos t important season of his career, a massive contract in unrestricted free agen cy at stake. And James, who turns 41 in December, has made it clear that he ha s no time to wait. 不過，儘管時機並非一切——但它幾乎就是一切。而湖人也許正好在最完美的時間點得到 Ayton。77在歐洲籃球錦標賽前已經瘦身，帶著巨大的鬥志迎接新挑戰——他的職業態度 和投入程度曾在他被交易至湖人後受到質疑。Austin Reaves也正處於他職業生涯最關鍵 的一季，因為他將在明年夏天成為不受限制的自由球員，有望爭取一份大合約。而LBJ— —今年 12 月就滿 41 歲——已經明言他無法再等待。 For Ayton, who turns 27 at the end of July, the opportunity to re-establish hi mself couldn’t be more clear. While his contract with the Lakers has a second -year player option, no one involved wants him to exercise it — the hope bein g that he far outplays that $8 million valuation and commands way more next su mmer. 對於即將在 7 月底年滿 27 歲的Ayton而言，重塑自我的機會再明確不過了。儘管他與湖 人的合約中包含第二年的球員選項，但雙方其實都希望他不會執行——理想的情況是他打 出遠超 800 萬美元價值的表現，並在明年夏天爭取更大合約。 Team sources believe the Lakers have the right coaching staff to make that hap pen. In JJ Redick, they have a deadly serious head coach who also understands how to relate to players. Assistant Scott Brooks worked with Ayton in Portland two years ago, and Nate McMillan has either played or coached with or against virtually every personality type the NBA’s ever concocted. And if not, the L akers have maintained their flexibility for next summer and beyond. 球隊內部消息人士相信，湖人現在有合適的教練團來幫助Ayton做到這一點。總教練JJ Re dick是一位極具認真態度的教練，也能夠與球員產生共鳴。助理教練 Scott Brooks曾在 兩年前於波特蘭與Ayton共事，Nate McMillan 更是無論球員或教練生涯，都與各式各樣 的 NBA 人物交手過。如果還有他沒接觸過的性格類型，那也不多了。而即使事情不如預 期發展，湖人也保有明年夏天及未來的彈性空間。 The Lakers weren’t going to do better this summer than Deandre Ayton, not wit h what was on the market, not with the little they had to offer. If you polled 29 other general managers about whether they’d rather trade a first-round pi ck for Nic Claxton or if they’d rather pay Ayton $8 million, we can be pretty confident in the answer. 考慮到今年夏天的市場和湖人能動用的資源，他們不可能找到比Ayton更好的選擇。如果 你去問其他 29 支球隊的總經理，他們是願意為Nic Claxton送出一個首輪選秀權，還是 願意花8M簽下Ayton，我們大概可以猜到大多數人會怎麼選。 And if there was hesitation, it wouldn’t be because of the stuff on the court . It would be concerns about the culture, the fit, the commitment, the underst anding about the required sacrifices that need to be made in order to win at t he highest level. 而如果有人會猶豫，那原因也不會是球場上的表現，而是文化契合度、是否適合團隊、是 否願意為勝利做出必要的犧牲等問題。 In Los Angeles, Ayton will have a chance to prove that he’s an absolute barga in. But the points and the rebounds aren’t going to be the real way to evalua te that. 在洛杉磯，Ayton將有機會證明自己是一筆物超所值的投資。但評價他的標準，不會只是 場上的得分和籃板數據。 It’ll happen more in the shadows, in those meetings and on those planes and i n the training room. If the Lakers get the best of Ayton there, they’ll see t he impact in another number, the most important one. 真正的關鍵，將在那些不為人知的時刻：球隊會議、飛行途中、訓練室內。如果湖人能在 這些地方看到一個最佳狀態的Ayton，他們就會在最重要的一個數字上看到成果。 They’ll see it in the win column. 他們會在勝場數上看到變化。 短評或心得： 給JJ調一下 -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc), 來自: 114.45.151.41 (臺灣) ※ 文章網址: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/NBA/M.1751683179.A.DD2.html