---

原標題：The end of the Dallas Mavericks' season marks the beginning for a few
        franchise-altering questions
        (獨行俠本賽季的結束同時代表許多可能改變球隊之疑問的開始)

來源：https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/36111588

作者：Tim MacMahon

原文＋翻譯：

第一部分：

DALLAS -- ONCE AGAIN, the Dallas Mavericks changed plans during a bizarre
final week of what Luka Doncic described as "a very disappointing season."

達拉斯——再一次的，達拉斯獨行俠隊在例行賽季最後一週改變計劃，使 Luka Doncic（
下稱「七七」）形容成「一個非常令人失望的賽季」。

A few days after declaring he'd play so long as the Mavs had even the
slimmest of postseason hopes, the franchise announced Doncic would sit out
after playing the first quarter in Friday night's home game against the
Chicago Bulls, joining co-star Kyrie Irving and four other healthy core
players on the bench.



Doncic had scored 11 points in the first quarter, chuckling with fellow
European and foe Nikola Vucevic on several occasions, neither taking a game
both franchises preferred to lose too seriously despite the fact that a loss
would eliminate the Mavs from play-in contention.

Luka Doncic 在第一節得到十一分，和同為歐洲人的對手 Nikola Vucevic 在場上多次咯
咯笑，雖然已知一場敗仗將使獨行俠無緣季後賽，但雙方都沒有把這場比賽看得太重。

But Doncic trotted back out onto the American Airlines Center court to open
the second quarter. After going through the motions on a defensive
possession, Doncic posted up on the right block, made a spin move and drove
to the basket, pump-faking before laying the ball in for his 719th bucket of
the season.



Seconds later, Doncic committed an intentional foul and checked out of the
game, his season over, barring another sudden shift in the franchise's
strategy.

數秒之後，他故意得到一次犯規並正式離場；除非球隊的策略出現變化，他的賽季已經結
束了。

The intention was for Doncic to be showered with a standing ovation by the
sellout crowd on "I Feel Slovenia" night as he walked off the court. That
didn't happen. Instead, there was a smattering of confused clapping.

原意是讓七七在「感受斯洛文尼亞」之夜上，在他走下球場時獲得全場觀眾的起立鼓掌，
但這並沒有發生。相反的，出現的是一些混亂的鼓掌聲。

It was an awkwardly fitting unofficial ending to a season in which nothing
has unfolded as envisioned for the Mavericks, who took less than two months
to morph from buzzing about a blockbuster trade -- a risky win-now move
considering Irving's pending free agent status, among other factors -- to
blatantly tanking in the regular season's final week.



The Mavs broke a tie with the Bulls in the lottery standings with the loss,
standing alone with the 10th-best odds with one game remaining in the regular
season. That's a critically important distinction for Dallas, which owes the
New York Knicks a top-10-protected pick as the final payment for the Kristaps
Porzingis trade.



"It's not so much waving the white flag," coach Jason Kidd said after the
115-112 loss to the Bulls, attributing the call to essentially pull the plug
to Mavs governor Mark Cuban and general manager Nico Harrison.

基總在賽後表示「立起白旗沒什麼大不了」，並將「臨陣刹車」的源頭歸咎於老闆 Mark
Cuban 和總經理 Nico Harrison。

"Decisions sometimes are hard in this business, and you have to make hard
decisions. We're trying to build a championship team, and sometimes you gotta
take a step back. Understanding with this decision, this is maybe a step
back, but hopefully it leads to going forward."



There's a strong sense of urgency within the organization to expedite the
process before Doncic loses faith in the Mavs' ability to build a contender
around him. He's wrapping up the first season of a five-year, $215 million
supermax contract with a player option for the final season.



Team sources have acknowledged to ESPN that fear exists that Doncic, who
publicly and privately expressed extreme frustration this season, could
consider requesting a trade as soon as the summer of 2024 if Dallas doesn't
make significant progress by then.

球隊消息人士向ESPN承認，如果達拉斯隊到時沒有取得重大進展，他們擔心本賽季曾同時
透過公開、私下管道表示極度沮喪的七七，可能會考慮在2024年夏天請求交易。

"He'd like to be here the whole time," Cuban said earlier this week when
asked about Doncic's long-term optimism. "But we've got to earn that."

「他希望一直在這裡，」庫班本週早些時候在被問及七七的長期樂觀態度時說。「但我們
必須要讓他感到值得。」


第二部分：

CUBAN SMILED WIDELY as he stood in the Crypto.com Arena corridor outside the
visitors' locker room the night of Feb. 8. Dallas had just defeated the LA
Clippers in Irving's debut with his new team, and the Mavericks were the talk
of the NBA, at least until news of Kevin Durant's trade to the Phoenix Suns
broke soon after.



Cuban, who has avoided the media spotlight much more since Harrison replaced
Donnie Nelson as Mavs general manager, was basking in the glory of making
such a big splash at the moment. The victory bumped Dallas to fourth in the
West standings, and the Mavs believed they had upward mobility.



Dallas had desperately been seeking a co-star to pair with Doncic since the
superstar's rookie season, when it took its first big swing on the Porzingis
deal. Irving, an eight-time All-Star with a NBA Finals Game 7-winning shot on
his resume, certainly fit the profile.



But trading for Irving -- and giving up two starters (Dorian Finney-Smith and
Spencer Dinwiddie) plus an unprotected 2029 first-round pick -- was a big
gamble. It was understood before the deal with the Brooklyn Nets was done
that there would not be any discussions about a contract extension.



"We've got those Bird rights," Cuban said before laughing and realizing that
he said the same thing about Doncic's former sidekick Jalen Brunson last
summer after he starred during Dallas' surprising run to the West finals.

「我們有了那些鳥權，」庫班說，然後笑著意識到他在去年夏天曾對七七的前搭檔 Jalen
Brunson 說過同樣的話，因為他在達拉斯出乎意料闖進西部決賽的過程中發揮了作用。

"I know what you're going to bring up!" Cuban said. "But I think it's a
different set of circumstances."

庫班說：「我知道你想說些什麼，但我認為遇到的是不同的狀況。」

The circumstances that led to Brunson's departure to the New York Knicks in
free agency are a sensitive subject in the Mavs organization. They are also
subject to some dispute, as Cuban made a point on Wednesday to publicly deny
the year-old claim by Brunson's father, Rick, that the Mavs were informed in
early January 2022 that the guard would sign the four-year, $56 million
extension he was eligible for if it was put on the table at that time.



Dallas didn't put the deal on the table until after the trade deadline, when
Finney-Smith accepted an identical offer. By then, it was clear that Brunson
would command much more as an unrestricted free agent. He ended up getting a
four-year, $104 million deal from the Knicks, who had hired his father as an
assistant coach, the third time Rick Brunson has worked for Tom Thibodeau.



Those Bird rights ended up being irrelevant. Cuban claims now they never had
a chance to prevent Brunson from joining his father and Leon Rose, the Knicks
president who is his godfather and former agent, in New York.

那些鳥權結果變得無關緊要。庫班稱，現在他們從來沒有機會阻止Brunson 加入他父親和
也是前經紀的尼克隊老闆 Leon Rose。

"We didn't know what the bid was," Cuban said Wednesday. "They never gave us
a number. Knowing the numbers now, I would've paid it in a heartbeat, but he
wouldn't have come anyway. There's just no possible way that it was about
money."

庫班星期三說，「我們不知道出價是多少，他們從未給我們一個數字。現在知道了這個數
字，我就會馬上付錢，但無論如何他都不會來。這不可能是為了錢。」

Cuban's comments came one day after Doncic, after his declaration that he
wouldn't be shut down unless play-in hopes were completely extinguished,
bemoaned how much the Mavs' chemistry had declined this season and admitted
that the team sorely missed Brunson.


grin. "I mean, amazing guy, amazing player, for sure."

「很多，」七七說，同時搖了搖頭、咬緊牙關地露出痛苦的笑容。「我是說，了不起的傢
夥，了不起的球員，這是肯定的。」

Doncic had grown impatient with the Mavs' mediocrity early in the season,
when he was playing at an MVP-caliber level while carrying a historically
heavy workload. For the first time in his career, Doncic enthusiastically
engaged in personnel discussions with the front office, as sources told ESPN
that he pushed for a major upgrade despite the Mavs' limited trade assets.



The Mavs pounced after Irving made his February trade request following the
fizzling of contract negotiations with Brooklyn, which was hesitant to fully
guarantee a long-term, maximum contract for a player who missed more games
than he played during his Nets tenure.



Kidd and Doncic made it clear they wanted the deal done. Harrison and Cuban
made it happen.

基總和七七明確表示他們希望能完成這筆交易，而 Harrison 和庫班使之成為現實。

"I don't see any risk at all," Harrison said days later. "I actually see the
risk in not doing it."


27.0 points and 6.0 assists in 20 games for the Mavs. Dallas won only eight
of those and lost five of six that Irving missed after joining the team.



"Just understand, we're getting better," Kidd said after a March 13 loss to
the Memphis Grizzlies, which Doncic and Irving missed due to injury, dropped
Dallas to a game under .500. "It's just a matter of, can we be healthy in
time to make a stretch run? And if we're not, that's just the season. No
one's dying."



The Mavs got healthy, but they still couldn't win. Doncic and Irving formed
one of the league's most dynamic offensive duos, but the Mavs couldn't
consistently outscore opponents due to their awful defense and poor
rebounding.

獨行俠隊得到了健康，但他們仍然無法獲勝。七七和KI組成了聯盟中最有活力的進攻組合
之一，但由於他們糟糕的防守和糟糕的籃板，獨行俠隊無法持續地贏下對手。

The Mavs went 5-11 when Doncic and Irving were both in the lineup, a .313
winning percentage that ranks as the worst by a pair of All-Star teammates
since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77, according to ESPN Stats & Information
research.

根據ESPN統計與信息部的研究，當七七和 KI 都在陣中時，獨行俠隊的戰績為五勝十一負
，0.313 的勝率是自1976-77 賽季NBA-ABA 合併以來，一對全明星隊友的最差戰績。

"I'm getting traded to a new work environment, and it's just a lot of
newness," Irving said after a March 29 loss in Philadelphia, part of a
stretch of seven in eight games. "I'm trying to introduce myself to
everybody, figure out, you know, who do guys go to on the team to confide in
off the court? Who is our coaching staff as people? Upper management, who are
they as people? What do they expect from me? ...

"What does our future look like? I think that now, again, just where we are
in the season, and where other teams are positioned already, it kind of looks
like a bit of a clusterf---."

Irving 在三月二十九日敗給七六人隊的賽後訪問中，說：



The Mavs never fought their way out of it. Cuban also made it clear that he
hopes Irving is a part of the future, saying that re-signing the All-Star
guard will be the franchise's top priority this summer despite the
disappointing results after the trade.

獨行俠隊從未能奮戰成功。庫班還明確表示，他希望 KI 是未來計劃的一部分。他說，儘
管交易後的結果令人失望，但重新簽下這位全明星後衛將是今年夏天加盟的首要任務。

"If I was a betting man, I guess I would say he would be back," Kidd said
Friday night. "Why would I say he wouldn't?"

「如果我是一個賭徒，我想我會說他會回來，」基總週五晚上說。「我為什麼要說他不會
呢？」

Can the Mavs be outbid?

但獨行俠隊是否能出一份比其他球隊更好的價碼？

"I don't know," Cuban said Wednesday, a couple of nights before Irving wore
street clothes and sat next to him in the courtside baseline seats by the
Mavs' bench. "I guess there's always too high a price, depending."

庫班週三（即 KI 穿上便服、坐在獨行俠隊板凳旁、球場場邊座位上的數個晚上前）說，
「我不知道，我想總會有很高的價碼，要看情況。」


第三部分：

THE HOME CROWD booed the Mavericks on March 25, when the short-handed,
lottery-bound Charlotte Hornets built an 18-point lead midway through the
third quarter. After the Mavs' comeback attempt fell short, Kidd wondered why
the boos didn't come earlier.



The Mavs later proved that it hadn't yet hit rock bottom, losing to the
Hornets again 36 hours later as Dallas continued to lose its grip on
controlling its own postseason destiny. But this was a new low.

獨行俠隊後來也證明他們還沒到達谷底，在三十六小時後再次輸給黃蜂隊，並逐步失去本
身晉級季後賽的主動權。但這是一個新低點。

It was that night that Doncic admitted that he'd never been more frustrated
during his five-year NBA career, pointing to the Mavs' struggles and
unspecified problems in his private life.

正是在那個晚上，七七承認在他五年的NBA 職業生涯中，他從未像現在這樣難過，並指向
了獨行俠隊的掙扎和私人生活中不明確的定性。

"I think you can see it with me on the court," Doncic said. "Sometimes I
don't feel it's me. I'm just being out there. I used to have really fun,
smiling on the court, but it's just been so frustrating for a lot of reasons,
not just basketball."



He was wearing a black T-shirt with white letters that read, "ALL I NEED IS
SUVO NESO AND RAKIJA." It's a Serbian slogan that loosely translates to, "All
I need is dry meat and a local brandy."

他當時穿著一件附帶塞爾維亞語白字的黑色汗衫，大略翻譯是「我只需要一個乾肉和一瓶
道地的白蘭地酒」。

Doncic will get the chance for plenty of rest and relaxation, much sooner
than anticipated, after the Mavs plummeted to 11th in the West and assured
that their season will end Easter Sunday.

在獨行俠隊確定以西部第十一名結束本賽季後，七七將能獲得比預期還要早的休息。

Doncic showered and changed into sweats at halftime Friday, watching from the
bench as his teammates blew a 13-point lead to the Bulls in the last two
quarters. He seemed loose and relaxed as the Mavs' fate was sealed, covering
his mouth and laughing before the game's final possession, when Dallas' pair
of two-way players McKinley Wright IV and A.J. Lawson attempted three
potential game-tying 3-pointers, none of which drew iron.



As the Mavs' disappointing season essentially came to an end, Doncic appeared
relieved. A member of the Mavs' staff who knows Doncic well nodded when this
observation was shared with him and said, "Good eyes."

隨著獨行俠隊令人失望的賽季基本上告一段落，七七似乎鬆了一口氣。一名熟悉七七的獨
行俠隊工作人員在與他分享這一看法時點了點頭，說：「眼神不錯」。


短評：

變更原定的計劃後，難道能為下賽季重燃希望嗎？

--
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc), 來自: 180.74.217.162 (馬來西亞)
※ 作者: laptic 2023-04-08 23:59:41
※ 文章代碼(AID): #1aCOzlLf (NBA)
※ 文章網址: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/NBA/M.1680969583.A.569.html