招来尼古拉-米罗蒂奇，失去考辛斯的鹈鹕为了季后赛赌上一切 [美国媒体]

After a ruptured left Achilles tendon put a heartbreaking end to DeMarcus Cousins’ season, we wondered how the New Orleans Pelicans — sitting seventh in the West, just two games up on the ninth-place Los Angeles Clippers — might go about picking up the pieces. How would a team built on the undeniability of its two top-line stars and with such little depth replace (some of) Boogie’s mammoth production, fortify the roster around Anthony Davis, and stay afloat in the playoff chase?

就在德马库斯-考辛斯因左跟腱断裂而无奈结束了这个伤心的赛季之后，我们很好奇鹈鹕会打算如何重新振作起来——目前他们排名西部第七，仅仅领先第九的快船两个胜场。这样一支以两名顶尖球员为核心建立的，然而其阵容深度根本不足以填补考辛斯留下的空缺的队伍，会如何围绕安东尼-戴维斯来补强阵容呢？又会如何想办法保持住季后赛的席位呢？

The answer (or, at least, part of it) came Thursday. After two days of will-they-won’t-they days of reports, the Pelicans and Chicago Bulls agreed to terms on a trade that sends power forward Nikola Mirotic — Chicago’s top scorer and best 3-point shooter, and a player whose name has been bandied about in trade talks all season — to New Orleans for center Omer Asik, guards Tony Allen and Jameer Nelson, a top-five-protected 2018 first-round draft pick and $2.5 million in cash. The Bulls will also send back New Orleans’ 2018 second-round pick, which went to Chicago along with swingman Quincy Pondexter in September, and will get the right to swap second-rounders with the Pelicans in 2021.

本周四的这场交易为我们解答了这个问题（或者说至少部分解答了问题）。经过了两天的纷纷扰扰各种猜测之后，鹈鹕和公牛终于达成了如下交易条款：公牛将大前锋尼古拉-米罗蒂奇——公牛队中最顶尖的得分手和3分射手，同时也是整个赛季都陷入交易流言的人——送至鹈鹕，换来了中锋欧米尔-阿西克，后卫托尼-阿伦和贾米尔-尼尔森，1个2018年1-5顺位受保护首轮签以及250万美元。而且公牛还将一个于9月份连带摇摆人昆西-庞德塞特打包得来的2018年次轮签加上一个2021年的互换次轮签给到鹈鹕。

The deal’s consummation came two days after Mirotic — a 26-year-old out of Montenegro whose tenure in the Windy City went south when Bobby Portis broke his face — reportedly rejected a prior iteration of the trade. As reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and detailed by Ben Falk at Cleaning the Glass, as a player on a one-year deal with a team option for next season, Mirotic had the right to veto any trade that would cost him his “Bird rights,” the name given to the NBA salary cap exception that allows teams to exceed the cap to pay their own free agents.

据报道称，就在米罗蒂奇——自从被队友博比-波蒂斯打伤了脸，这位来自黑山共和国的26岁青年待在芝加哥的日子越来越不如意——执行交易否决权之后两天，交易最终还是圆满达成了。根据ESPN的Adrian Wojnarowski的报道，Cleaning the Glass的Ben Falk也证实了随后的细节，米罗蒂奇作为下赛季合同中有球队选项的球员，他可以否决任何可能会导致他失去“伯德权”的交易。“伯德权”是有关NBA工资帽的特例条款，该条款允许球队在超出工资帽的情况下签下特定的自由球员。

If the Bulls traded Mirotic to New Orleans without guaranteeing his $12.5 million team option for next season, he’d lose his Bird rights, so Mirotic needed to approve the deal. He didn’t — which makes sense, given how few teams are likely to have meaningful salary cap space this summer. If Chicago did guarantee the second year to grease the skids, though, it would put the Pelicans on the hook for an additional $12.5 million for 2018-19.

如果公牛没有执行1250万的球队选项就将米罗蒂奇交易至鹈鹕，那么米罗蒂奇将会失去伯德权，因此该交易需要征得他的同意。结果米罗蒂奇也没有同意——这也合情合理，毕竟今年的夏天也没几个球队拥有足够的薪资空间再去签他。如果公牛真的执行了球队选项，那么鹈鹕在2018-19赛季将会有1250万的薪资空间被牢牢套住。

At first, that looked like a non-starter for New Orleans: with more than $90 million already on the books for next year for just seven players, unrestricted-free-agent-to-be Cousins (who will command top dollar even after his Achilles tear) needing a new deal, and a projected luxury tax line of $121 million, the Pelicans didn’t seem eager to take on any guaranteed money for next year. Hence the first-round-pick sweetener to jettison Asik, owed $11.3 million next year and just under $12 million in 2019-20 (albeit with only $3 million guaranteed for the final year) in what has proven to be a disastrously unsuccessful contract.

刚开始，本次交易方案对于鹈鹕来说似乎不值得考虑：首先，到了明年队里有保障合同的7名球员就要用掉超过9000万美元，然后又要和即将成为完全自由球员的考辛斯签一份新合同（就算是跟腱断了他也会要求顶薪），而根据预测奢侈税线只有1亿2100万美元，所以鹈鹕对于任何保障合同都不太感兴趣。为了送走阿西克他们甚至还搭上了一个首轮签，阿西克明年的合同是1130万美元，2019-20年的差不多要到1200万美元（尽管最后一年的合同只有300万受保障），他的合同众所周知是极其糟糕和失败的。

But the two sides kept talking. Eventually, the Bulls — who held Mirotic out of Wednesday’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers to protect their asset — got the Pelicans on board with guaranteeing Mirotic’s ’18-’19 contract by giving back this year’s second-rounder, and by taking back Allen and Nelson.

不过双方的谈判依然不断进行。最后，公牛——本周三那场输给开拓者的比赛，为了保护他们的筹码米罗蒂奇免遭伤病就没让他上场——终于让鹈鹕同意执行米罗蒂奇18-19年的球队选项，代价是公牛再搭上一个今年的次轮签并且还要“收留”鹈鹕的托尼-阿伦和尼尔森。

For the Bulls, the goal’s simple: sell high on Mirotic (in the midst of a career year thanks in part to Chicago’s insistence on moving him) to increase future financial flexibility and bring back draft assets that might help general manager Gar Forman and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson add to what has become an intriguing young core. Moving Mirotic also has the ancillary “benefit” of making this year’s Bulls worse, thereby potentially improving the chances of landing a high lottery pick in the final draft before lottery reform levels the odds. The Bulls enter Thursday’s action with the NBA’s sixth-worst record, at 18-33.

对于公牛来说目的很明确：高价出售米罗蒂奇（职业生涯的中期就如此，这一定程度上要归因于于公牛坚持不懈地想要交易他），将来能够提高财政上的灵活性，同时也换回了选秀权能让总经理Gar Forman和篮球运营副总裁John Paxson围绕队内的那位年轻核心球员进行重建。交易走米罗蒂奇还有个附带的“好处”，就是趁明年选秀规则改革平衡几率之前，让今年的公牛的战绩变得更差，从而更有机会获得高顺位的选秀权。截止本周四，公牛的战绩是18胜33负，这也是NBA史上第6差的战绩。

While the Bulls made Thursday’s trade with the future in mind, New Orleans pulled the trigger thinking about right bleepin’ now. Two straight losses without Boogie cast the Pelicans’ need for an injection of offensive talent into stark relief. Standing pat and relying on the admittedly superhuman Davis might not have been enough to hold off the Clippers (whose tread-water-or-tear-down? plans remain unclear after shipping out Blake Griffin) or Utah Jazz and stay in the West’s top eight. So general manager Dell Demps did what needed to be done to land Mirotic, who’s shooting a blistering 42.9 percent from 3-point range this season and gives Alvin Gentry a willing and threatening floor-spacer. His presence next to Davis at center (not AD’s preferred position, but one he must play with Cousins sidelined) ought to open up a Pelicans offense that has averaged just 101.1 points per 100 possessions in two games without Cousins.

正当公牛还在盘算着未来种种之时，鹈鹕想要的却是立竿见影的效果。失去了考辛斯即刻直落连输两场，鹈鹕在进攻天赋方面急需一支强心剂振奋振奋。在不改变阵容的情况下，仅仅依靠超人戴维斯根本不足以应付快船（换走格里芬之后很难说快船会奋起直上或一落千丈）和爵士，想要保住西部前八估计够呛。所以总经理Dell Demps做了该做的工作，引入米罗蒂奇，一个本赛季三分命中率达到42.9%，并可以成为阿尔文·金特里教练需要的有威胁的空间型射手。过去两场比赛在考辛斯缺场的情况下，鹈鹕每百合得分只有101.1，而米罗蒂奇的到来可以配合中锋戴维斯（中锋并不是戴维斯喜欢的位置，不过目前考辛斯缺席他也只能顶上），毫无疑问这能够强化鹈鹕的进攻能力。

Importing Mirotic to slot in alongside Davis, resurgent guard Jrue Holiday and steady-sniping wing E’Twaun Moore — and to bump yeoman’s-work forward Dante Cunningham back to the bench role for which he’s best suited — came at a cost: Mirotic’s guaranteed salary for next season, and another first-round draft choice, which New Orleans seems to trade every year. This time around, though, Demps seems to have gotten good value for his pick.

鹈鹕引进了米罗蒂奇来配合戴维斯，加上状态渐渐恢复的后卫朱-霍勒迪，发挥稳定的侧翼奇兵伊托万-摩尔，以及回到替补席的（这才适合他）任劳任怨的前锋丹特-坎宁安，鹈鹕付出如下代价：保障了米罗蒂奇下赛季的合同，并且还搭上一个首轮签。鹈鹕似乎每年都要拿选秀权去交易，当然了，这次Demps似乎也换回来了一些好东西。

Should the Pelicans find themselves needing to get under the luxury tax line when it comes time to give Boogie the max this summer, it’s a good bet that Demps will be able to find a suitor for Mirotic’s $12.5 million expiring deal. Should Cousins decide instead to leave New Orleans, well, you’ve still got a pretty good starting power forward on hand at a reasonable price.

倘若今年夏天考辛斯要求顶薪同时鹈鹕又要控制薪资总额在奢侈税线以下，那么Demps找一个下家来为米罗蒂奇那1250万到期合同接盘也并不难。倘若考辛斯决定另找东家，那么至少鹈鹕还有一个价格合理、能力出众的首发大前锋保底呢。

By holding out to get this summer’s second-round pick back, Demps also added something that he might be able to use as a sweetener in another money-clearing deal (say, getting somebody to bite on the final $5.3 million owed to center Alexis Ajinca?). And by including Allen and Nelson, New Orleans both ducked the “hard cap” or “apron” line of just under $125.3 million in total team salary and opened up an additional roster spot. Here’s where we remind you that center Greg Monroe — a high-scoring, playmaking New Orleans native — is about to hit the market, and could find the chance to log big minutes in his hometown for a team with postseason aspirations awfully enticing.

为了要回2018的次轮签，Demps还搭上一些添头，这些添头原本也可能加在其它“清洗薪资空间”的交易中（比如说，诱使某些球队去接阿莱克西-阿金萨的盘，他的最后一年合同还有530万）。通过打包送走托尼-阿伦和尼尔森，鹈鹕把工资总额既控制在1亿2530万的“围裙线”或者说“硬工资帽”之下，并且球队花名册上还多出了一个空位。在这里要提醒各位，中锋格雷格-门罗——一名能得分能组织，出身自新奥尔良的球员——将会进入自由球员市场，并且很有可能选择加入能够打入季后赛的家乡球队。

You can’t really replace players as productive and dominant as Cousins, and trading first-round picks is never fun. New Orleans is still short on the wing — Darius Miller has been a godsend, they’re hopeful Solomon Hill can one day get healthy and play up to his contract, and DeAndre Liggins is a reclamation-project adventure — and it’s an open question how much fear a Davis-Mirotic-Monroe frontcourt would really strike into the hearts of the West’s elite. But six days after it looked like their season might be in shambles, the Pelicans seem to have righted the ship.

当然，无论怎么说，要想完全替代考辛斯这种高产能又有统治力的球员是不可能的，而且总把首轮签拿去交易也不是长久之计。鹈鹕在锋线上依旧缺兵少将—— 达柳斯-米勒的状态时起时伏，所罗门-希尔有伤病在身，但愿他早日回复并发挥出配得上他合同的的实力，德安德鲁-利金斯还在发展联盟历练，现在召回来还比较冒险——如果之后真的能凑出“戴维斯-米罗蒂奇-门罗”这样的前场组合，又能否在西部脱颖而出还是未知之数。不过，尽管本赛季似乎前景坎坷，鹈鹕毕竟已经走上了正确的道路。

Despite limited options and flexibility, New Orleans looks to have found a path to reload its offense on the fly and remain in the hunt for a return to postseason play while still leaving some room to maneuver this summer. With rare exceptions, you can’t solve all your problems with one trade. This ain’t a bad try, though.

手上的筹码虽不多，目前看来鹈鹕依然找到了办法来加强自身的进攻能力并且牢牢地占据着季后赛的席位，同时还保证了这个夏季有些许可调整的空间。其实除了历史上的一些特殊例子，要想通过一次交易就解决所有问题根本不可能。所以这次的交易也不算是个坏的选择。