喬治交易評級：雷霆豪賭一年，步行者重啟未來

Paul George won』t spend next season riding shotgun with LeBron James, joining a Superteam in Boston or heading home to be the face of the Lakers. No, the four-time All-Star forward is headed to Oklahoma City to play with NBA MVP Russell Westbrook.

下賽季到底是成為勒布朗-詹姆斯的幫手呢？還是去波士頓加入一支超級球隊呢？或者直接回到家鄉，成為湖人的領袖呢？對保羅-喬治來說，這些場景都成了泡沫，因為這名四屆全明星將會在下賽季來到俄克拉荷馬城，和新科MVP拉塞爾-威斯布魯克並肩作戰。

The Pacers have agreed to trade George, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, to the Thunder in exchange for shooting guard Victor Oladipo and second-year forward Domantas Sabonis. George (23.7 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 3.3 APG), who is set to make $19.5 million next season, recently informed Indiana that he was willing to play out the 2017-18 season with the Pacers but that he would not re-sign next summer.

步行者隊已經同意將喬治——他將在明年夏天成為自由球員——交易到雷霆，換來得分後衛維克托-奧拉迪波和二年級前鋒多曼塔斯-薩博尼斯。喬治（上賽季場均23.7 分6.6 籃板3.3助攻）下賽季的薪水將會達到1950萬美元，而他也在近期告知步行者隊他願意在2017-18賽季繼續效力步行者隊，但是他不會在明年夏天選擇續約。

Let』s grade the trade.

讓我們來評價這筆交易吧。

雷霆：A-

Well, no one can accuse Thunder GM Sam Presti of timidity.

好吧，這下沒人敢說雷霆總經理薩姆-普萊斯蒂不敢出手了。

There are a few angles to unpack here but the most important is Westbrook』s future in Oklahoma City. While every franchise worries about its stars skipping town, Oklahoma City was staring at the possibility of trading away James Harden, losing Kevin Durant for nothing in free agency, and then being forced to trade Westbrook to guard against another free-agency defection in 2018. That series of events would shatter a fan base, to put it mildly, and it would spur even the most calculating executive to swing for the fences.

有許多事情都值得展開講，不過最重要的還是威斯布魯克在俄克拉荷馬城的未來。幾乎所有的球隊都在擔心自家球星選擇拍屁股走人。雷霆更是如此，他們已經交易走了詹姆斯-哈登，在自由球員市場上用凱文-杜蘭特換來了空氣，他們甚至可能為了防止威斯布魯克在2018年成為自由身之後離開，而不得不交易走他。這一系列的事件會讓球迷們因為傷心而相繼離開。換個更極端一點的說法，這樣的境況甚至會逼著最精於計算的球隊經理去豪賭一把。

George fills multiple major needs for the Thunder. He』s a secondary scorer who will alleviate Westbrook』s unsustainably high workload. He is a quality, versatile defender who can credibly check elite wings like Durant and Kawhi Leonard in possible postseason match-ups. And he is a signal to Westbrook that the Thunder are serious about building a winner around him rather than merely riding his coattails to exciting but empty regular-season success.

喬治的到來填補了雷霆多種需求。在威斯布魯克因為繁重的任務而陷入啞火時，喬治能作為球隊第二得分手站出來。他是一名有著高水準防守的球員，也能防守多個位置。在可能出現的季後賽對決中，他能和精英級別的翼側球員——例如杜蘭特和科懷-倫納德——對上位。這筆交易也給威斯布魯克傳送了信號：雷霆希望圍繞他建立一支常勝之軍，而不是僅僅依靠他在常規賽打出驚人但是無用的表現。

The cold truth about Oklahoma City』s 2016-17 season is that the Thunder went about as far as Westbrook could carry them. If a 30-point triple double wasn』t enough to win 50 games or two playoff games, why wouldn』t he start to look around for greener pastures? While there』s still plenty of deal-making left to play out over the next few weeks, Oklahoma City can enter next season with the hope of winning a playoff series and the dream of reaching the Western Conference finals. That was never going to be possible with Oladipo and Sabonis.

2016-17賽季告訴雷霆一個冰冷的事實：僅靠威斯布魯克一個人就只能走這麼遠了。如果場均30分的三雙都不能帶來50場常規賽勝利和2場季後賽勝利的話，為什麼威斯布魯克不能去更優秀的球隊發展呢？而現在，雷霆還有著幾周時間去操作，他們完全可以在進入下賽季時期待贏下一個系列賽，同時夢想著進入西部決賽。如果他們還是留著奧拉迪波和薩博尼斯，夢想就永遠只會是夢想。

Nevertheless, the obvious longer-term risk must be factored into an analysis of this move. George has intimated that winning and returning to LA are among his top priorities. Oklahoma City will never be Southern California. And will the Thunder be able to put things together quickly enough to win at the level that will satisfy George?

不過，這筆交易的長期隱患也必須予以考慮。喬治曾經提到，贏球和回到洛杉磯是他最主要的目標。俄克拉荷馬城永遠比不上南加利福尼亞，那麼雷霆是否能快速完成建隊，然後贏下能讓喬治滿意的比賽嗎？

Before Thunder fans stress out too much over the possibility of George』s departure next summer, it』s worth noting that the deal relieves Oklahoma City of Oladipo』s four-year, $84 million contract. Although that seemed to be a reasonable agreement when it was reached last fall, on the heels of the Serge Ibaka trade, Oladipo didn』t set the world on fire during his first year in Oklahoma City. His contract wasn』t going to be an Enes Kanter-like albatross going forward, but Presti will find himself in a significantly more flexible salary cap position next summer if George does walk.

在雷霆球迷擔心喬治明年夏天離開的可能性之前，有一件事值得一提，那就是奧拉迪波4年8400萬美元的合同。在去年秋天賽爾吉-伊巴卡的交易過去後沒多久，奧拉迪波和雷霆隊達成了協議。儘管那時，這個價位顯得很合理，但是奧拉迪波在雷霆第一年的表現並不是很出眾。他的合同不會像恩內斯-坎特那樣隨著時間流逝愈加沉重，但是在交易之後，普萊斯蒂讓雷霆明年夏天的工資帽變得更加有彈性了——如果喬治真的選擇離開的話。

The ironic part about this trade for George, who has had many major organizations around the league weighing the pros and cons of renting him for a year, is that his 2018 decision won』t ultimately decide whether this was a winning move or a losing one. If he re-signs in Oklahoma City, it』s clearly a home run. But the move can still be a success if George leaves as long as Presti』s pluck convinces Westbrook to re-up.

諷刺的是，聯盟中如此多的球隊都在考慮交易到喬治一年的使用權是否值得，而他2018年選擇卻不會決定這筆交易的成敗。如果他和雷霆續約，那麼這筆交易就是極大的成功；如果喬治離開，但是普萊斯蒂的勇氣說服威斯布魯克續約，那麼交易也算是成功了。

步行者：D

Pritchard made the right, difficult decision—to trade George early so that his franchise could move forward—but the return leaves so, so much to be desired.

普理查德做出了正確而艱難的決定——提前交易喬治，讓球隊進入下一階段——但是他所得到的回報卻遠不能讓人滿意。

In Oladipo (15.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.6 APG) and Sabonis (5.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG), he acquired two rotation players with some degree of untapped potential but no real shot at star potential. He also inherited a significant contract—the $84 million owed to Oladipo—that is most likely going to look no better than mediocre as it unfolds. The bright side: Oladipo (age 25) and Sabonis (age 21) are aligned well with franchise center Myles Turner (age 21).

他得到了奧拉迪波（場均15.9分4.3籃板2.6助攻）和薩博尼斯（5.9分3.6籃板）兩名輪轉球員，他們都有著尚未開發的天賦，但是都沒有成為球星的潛質。他還接手了一份大合同——奧拉迪波8400萬美元的合同——這是一份永遠不可能成為「超值」的合同。不過也有好消息：奧拉迪波（25歲）和薩博尼斯（21歲）和球隊核心中鋒邁爾斯-特納（21歲）的年齡相仿。

With George gone and word spreading that Jeff Teague is likely headed out as well, Indiana was unavoidably headed for a major step back in 2017-18. But Oladipo, a former Indiana Hoosier, is neither good enough to inspire hope as a lead option nor cheap enough to receive the benefit of the doubt. The George-less Pacers will need him to step up in a big-time way, a development that seems unlikely given his fairly forgettable sidekick season alongside Westbrook. Sabonis (5.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG) similarly projects as a useful, skilled big but not much more.

喬治已經離開，而消息稱傑夫-蒂格也將遠走他鄉【譯註】，步行者毫無疑問會在2017-18賽季迎來大退步。但是，曾在印第安納大學就讀的奧拉迪波卻不夠優秀，看上去沒有希望成為球隊的第一選擇，他的合同也會讓他在下賽季飽受質疑。沒有喬治的步行者需要他在關鍵時刻站出來，但是上賽季他在威斯布魯克身邊充當二把手時卻幾乎被人遺忘，因此期盼他在這方面的成長几乎是沒有希望的。薩博尼斯似乎會在未來成為一名技術全面的適用性球員，但除此以外別無他物了。

【譯註】傑夫-蒂格已經和森林狼達成了3年5700萬的協議。

While it』s impossible to know the validity of online rumors, there were indications in recent weeks that Cleveland was interested in sending Kevin Love for George while Boston was offering some combination of flexible contracts and picks. Either scenario—a bona fide face of the franchise or asset accumulation—would have been preferable to this modest return.

雖然網路上流言的真實性不可考，但是最近幾周一直有人稱，騎士想用凱文-樂福換來喬治，而波士頓則提供了一些有彈性的合同以及選秀權。兩種選項——要麼換來球隊門面，要麼積累未來的財富——都比現在只能用「一般」去評價的回報要好。

There is this small consolation: By sending George to the West, Pritchard ensured that the Pacers would only face him twice next year and kept him away from their conference』s elite teams. Will that really matter if the Pacers can』t even crack the top eight in the weakened East?

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