Shams：威少得知湖人要換Hield後向巫師老闆求情
by the morning of the NBA Draft on July 29, with seemingly no trade for West
brook available, Rob Pelinka, the Lakers vice president of basketball operat
ions and general manager, appeared to have no choice but to move on. The Lak
ers’ brass had spent considerable time on a backup plan to net Sacramento’
s 28-year-old marksmanBuddy Hield. He addressed the team’s shooting needs
if not exactly their thirst for another star.
7月29日選秀夜的早上，威少的交易可能性變得微乎其微，Pelinka似乎別無選擇，他們
花了相當長的時間在準備28歲的射手Buddy Hield的B方案交易上，在無力弄來第三個球
星的情況下，他能夠滿足球隊的投籃需求。
That day, a telltale moment occurred: Westbrook received a tip. Not only cou
ld the Lakers not break through with the Wizards, but also they were on the
cusp of tradingKyle KuzmaandMontrezl Harrell— players whose salaries wo
uld be required to execute a Westbrook trade — to the Kings for Hield.
那天威少收到了一個消息，湖人不僅沒能在與巫師交易上取得進展，並且準備拿Kyle K
uzma和Montrezl Harrell換取Buddy Hield，因為這兩名球員的薪水是湖人換取他的必要
條件。
“That set Russ off,” one source said. “All he wanted, by any means, was t
o be a Laker.”
這激怒了威少，消息人士稱無論如何，他想要的就是成為一名湖人球員。
Westbrook had been telling those around him for weeks that he was finally co
ming home, but now those dreams seemed to be slipping away. So shortly befor
e noon on July 29, he asked his billionaire boss, Ted Leonsis, for a persona
l favor: Find a way for him to land with the Lakers. That passionate plea se
t off a chain of events that resulted in the Lakers assembling one of the mo
st star-laden and veteran teams in league history.
幾個星期以來，威少一直在告訴他身邊的人，他終於要回家了，但現在，那些夢想似乎
正在遠離他，於是在7月29中午，威少向巫師老闆Ted Leonsis求情，想辦法讓他加盟湖
人隊，這最終促成了巫師和湖人的交易。
DeMar DeRozan He took part in two such meetings at James’ home and had sepa
rate ongoing phone conversations with James. His conversations with the Lake
rs co-stars had gone well There was genuine excitement shared in the player
meetings about how DeRozan would fit.
DDR在詹姆斯家中參加了兩次會面，並與詹姆斯進行過電話交流，他和湖人明星們的談話
進行得很順利，在球員會議上，大家都對DDR的加盟計劃感到興奮。
Sources said Pelinka and his front-office group strongly considered executin
g a sign-and-trade for the 32-year-old DeRozan, giving up Kuzma and Caldwell
-Pope in the process, but couldn’t come to consensus terms with theSpursi
n free agency or a suitable contract number for DeRozan. What’s more, sourc
es say the DeRozan option never advanced to the point that it was presented
to Buss.
消息人士稱，Pelinka和他的管理層強烈考慮簽下DDR，在此過程中放棄Kuzma和KCP，但
他們無法與馬刺在自由球員市場先籤後換達成一致，也無法為DDR找到一個合適的合約，
更重要的是，消息人士表示關於簽DDR的計劃進展沒有到珍妮-巴斯認可的程度
While she has long since empowered Pelinka to be the final front office deci
sion maker, the impact of her family’s legacy remains strong. And the Westb
rook deal, quite clearly, was seen as the kind of move that would make her l
ate father, legendary Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss, smile. If only they could
get it over the finish line.
雖然珍妮早已授權Pelinka成為管理層的最終決策者，但她認為相比DDR，威少顯然是能
得到自己已故的父親認可，只要他們能奪冠。
Even if Hield was a more natural fit for their structure, the Lakers believe
d Westbrook made them a more dangerous team in the postseason.
儘管Hield更適合湖人的球隊架構，但湖人相信威少能讓他們在季後賽中成為一支更危險
的球隊
It was, in essence, the decision between a player they believed could be the
difference-maker in a 16-game title run vs. one whose talents had only been
utilized in the regular season.
從本質上來說，這是一個他們認為可以在16場季後賽比賽中發揮關鍵作用的球員和一個
只能在例行賽發揮才能的球員之間的選擇。
The decision left Sacramento management steaming, sources said. The Kings ha
d no idea they were even competing with a Westbrook deal
消息人士稱，這一決定令國王管理層非常憤怒，他們甚至不知道他們是在與威少競爭
Not only did the Lakers trade away Caldwell-Pope and Kuzma in the Westbrook
deal, but also they had failed to retainAlex Carusoafter the Chicago Bulls
offered him $37 million over four years, an offer the Lakers chose not to c
ompete with. That cost-saving decision frustrated many within the organizati
on who had seen the Lakers develop Caruso from a G League player into one of
the NBA’s top role players and best backcourt defenders.
湖人不僅在威少交易中送走了KCP和Kuzma，而且還沒能留住Caruso，他們沒有公牛給Ca
ruso開出的四年3700萬合約，這個節省成本的決定讓很多球隊內部人士感到沮喪，他們
見證了Caruso能從發展聯盟球員發展為NBA頂級的角色球員。
With Westbrook aboard, sources said Davis has emerged as the expected starti
ng center, clearing the way for a likely starting five of him, Westbrook, El
lington, Ariza and James, according to sources. Third-year guardTalen Horto
n-Tucker, a rising, young talent for the Lakers, is also expected to compete
in camp for a possible starting role.
隨著威少加盟之後，AD將成為先發中鋒，搭配詹姆斯、威少、Ellington和Ariza，三年
級的THT也有望在訓練營中競爭一個可能的先發位置。
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