[外絮] Jake Fischer:Butler交易請求背後崩解的化學效應

https://reurl.cc/qno7oN

The ongoing standoff on South Beach, to be clear, centers around money. If
Miami had extended Jimmy Butler for the two years and $112 million that the
Heat could have committed to the 35-year-old dating to this past offseason,
we wouldn't be constantly spilling so much digital ink regarding Butler's
request to be traded.

Yet there are certainly sidebar dilemmas and underreported issues which have
inflamed this rift, leading to a seven-game suspension issued by Butler's ownteam.

先澄清，在南沙灘所發生的失控是圍繞著錢。如果熱火上個休賽季提供Jimmy Butler 2年112M的續約，我們就不會一直在網路上寫文章討論Butler的交易請求了。

然而，確實存在一些次要問題和未被充分報導的問題加劇了這個裂痕，最終導致Butler被自己的球隊處以7場比賽的禁賽處分。

It's rather remarkable how quickly Butler's long-solid Heat footing has
crumbled, not even two full years removed from leading Miami — as a No. 8
seed no less — to a second NBA Finals appearance in his first five years
with the franchise. The only thing that stopped that Heat team in 2023 was
the Nikola Jokiled Denver Nuggets. Butler led the Heat through the East
despite the fact that the same Tyler Herro who has since emerged as Miami's
strongest All-Star candidate, ahead of Bam Adebayo, was unavailable
throughout that run due to injury.

令人驚訝的是，Butler在熱火隊原本穩固的地位如此快速地崩塌，距離他作為第八種子帶領熱火打進他在球隊前5年的第2次NBA總決賽還不到2年。2023年，只有Nikola Jokic領軍的丹佛金塊才能阻止那支熱火隊。儘管後來成為熱火最有力的全明星候選人（甚至超過
Adebayo）的Tyler Herro在那次季後賽因傷缺陣，Butler依然帶領熱火闖出東區。

Butler, by that point, was clearly established as the Heat's unquestioned
lynchpin, essentially greenlighted by the franchise to come and go and play
as he pleased. I remember visiting Miami's morning shootaround in Oklahoma
City back in December 2022; Butler walked out prematurely with Kyle Lowry in
lockstep. Mind you that was before Butler's injuries and intermittent
availability, according to league sources, became a source of tangible
tension within the organization.

到那時，Butler顯然已成為熱火無可爭議的核心，球隊基本上允許他來去自如、隨心所欲地打球。我記得2022年12月在奧克拉荷馬參觀熱火的晨練時，Butler與Kyle Lowry一起早退。要知道，這是在Butler的傷病和斷斷續續的出場造成他和球隊內部明顯緊張之前的事情。

Sources say even Lowry, who remains as close away from the court as anyone toButler, gradually grew fatigued by his teammate's headstrong tendencies on
the floor. Currently in his second season with his hometown Philadelphia
76ers, Lowry declined to comment last week when an interview was requested.

消息來源稱即使是在場下與Butler關係最親密的Lowry，也逐漸對其隊友在場上固執己見的傾向感到疲憊。目前效力家鄉費城76人隊第二個賽季的Lowry，在上週被請求接受採訪時拒絕發表評論。

Now it's Pat Riley's front office that has shown it will no longer tolerate
Butler's freestyling, announcing to the world on Jan. 3 that the six-time NBAAll-Star has been suspended for "conduct detrimental to the team." Among
Butler's transgressions, according to league sources, have been multiple
instances of Butler skipping out on morning shootarounds altogether and
insisting on private flights separate from Miami's team charter. Former Heat
star Tim Hardaway Sr. told Sirius XM NBA Radio over the weekend that Riley
sent a 10-page letter to the players' association detailing Butler's
missteps.

現在，Pat Riley為首的管理層已表明不會再容忍Butler的恣意妄為，並於1月3日向全世界宣布，這位6次入選NBA全明星的球員因"危害球隊利益的行為"被禁賽。據聯盟消息源
稱，Butler的過失包括多次完全缺席晨練，並堅持要搭乘私人飛機而不是球隊包機。前熱火球星Tim Hardaway在週末告訴Sirius XM NBA電台，Riley向球員工會發送了一份長達10頁的信件(好像還有影片)，詳細列舉了Butler的過失。

"You don't disrespect authority and that's what Jimmy Butler has been doing,"Hardway said. "It's about accountability. If you can't take rejection,
because everyone's been saying 'yes, yes, yes' to you, now the world's comingto an end."

Maybe the strongest argument Butler could muster as a counter: Look to his
left and right and his closest teammates from that Cinderella team in 2023
are all gone. At a time when the 33-5 Cavaliers serve as quite the poster
team for the benefits of roster continuity, Butler's formerly Finals-worthy
supporting cast has witnessed a flurry of departures reminiscent of the Mile
High exits of Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope from the Nuggets. Max
Strus, Gabe Vincent and Caleb Martin — three starters from Miami's Game 1
Finals lineup against Denver — all left the Heat over the past two summers.

"你不能不尊重權威，而這正是Jimmy Butler一直在做的事，"Hardaway說。"這關乎責任心。如果你無法接受被拒絕，因為每個人一直對你說'好的，好的，好的'，現在世界就要末日了。"(就版上有的那個)

Butler最有力的反駁可能是：看看他左右，2023年那支黑馬球隊中與他最親近的隊友都已離去。在目前33勝5負的騎士隊展示了陣容穩定性帶來的好處時，Butler曾經那支打進總決賽的配角們經歷了一連串離隊，讓人想起Bruce Brown和Kentavious Caldwell-Pope離開金塊的情形。熱火在總決賽第一場對陣丹佛時的三名先發球員——Max Strus、Gabe Vincent和Caleb Martin都在過去兩個夏天離開了熱火。

"Overstaying their welcome, wanting to find something different ... it
happens in this league," Caldwell-Pope told me last week when we chatted
after his Orlando Magic topped the Knicks.

In each of those Heat cases, Miami drew clear lines in the sand in
negotiations on new contracts with Strus, Vincent and Martin, no matter theircohesion with Butler.

"待太久了，想嘗試些不同的東西...這在聯盟中很常見，"上週我在他的魔術隊戰勝尼克後聊天時，KCP對我說。

在每一個熱火的案例中，邁阿密都在與Strus、Vincent和Martin續約談判時劃出了明確的底線，不管他們與Butler的合作多麼的好。

"A lot of the reason for the success of the Miami Heat was the chemistry theyhad," said one league figure with knowledge of that team's inner-workings.

"Those were [Butler's] guys," said another NBA source familiar with the
Heat's thinking.

Butler is said to have viewed Strus as a brother — someone who could match
the All-Star's sarcastic (some call it abrasive) sense of humor. They hatcheda celebrated handshake routine, featured often in Instagram posts and
punctuated by the players flipping each other off with shared tongue-in-cheekzeal. Several people who knew that edition of the Heat well cited Strus as aninstrumental figure in keeping Butler steady within the greater team dynamic.

"邁阿密熱火成功的很大原因在於他們的團隊化學反應，"一位了解球隊內部運作的聯盟人士說。

"那些都是(Butler的)兄弟，"另一位熟悉熱火想法的NBA消息人士說。

據說Butler視Strus為兄弟——一個能夠配合這位全明星球員諷刺（有人稱之為尖銳）的幽默感的人。他們創造了一串著名的擊掌，經常出現在他們相關的Instagram貼文中，最後以兩人帶著共同的打趣熱情互相豎中指作為結尾。幾位熟悉那個版本熱火的人都提到Strus是在團隊氛圍中保持Butler穩定的重要人物。

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ULejgZxHeY

The Heat, though, openly struggled with the prospect of paying both Strus andDuncan Robinson, who has one season left after this one on a five-year, $90
million contract he has struggled to live up to. The sharpshooting Strus leftMiami for Cleveland soon after 2023 free agency opened, scoring a four-year,
$62 million deal with the Cavaliers via sign-and-trade after usurping
Robinson in Erik Spoelstra's rotation.

然而，熱火隊公開地在是否同時支付Strus和Duncan Robinson的薪資上掙扎，後者5年9000萬美金的合約還剩下一年，而他的表現一直未能達到合約的預期。神射手Strus在2023年自由球員市場開啟後不久就離開邁阿密前往克里夫蘭，在Spoelstra的陣容輪替中取代了
Robinson的位置後，通過簽換獲得了騎士隊提供的4年6200萬美元合約。

That same summer, sources said, Miami set itself an annual limit in the $8
million range in talks with Vincent. The Lakers delivered a three-year deal
with an average annual value of $11 million to lure Vincent into LeBron
James' supporting cast soon after those same Nuggets had just swept L.A. in
the Western Conference finals.

據消息源稱，同一個夏天，熱火在與Vincent的談判中將年薪上限設在約800萬美元的範圍。就在金塊隊剛剛在西區決賽橫掃湖人隊後不久，湖人隊提供了一份年均薪1100萬美金的三年合約，吸引Vincent加入支持LeBron James的陣容。

In Miami, Vincent served as a stable two-way presence at the point — willing
to defer to Butler but likewise capable of scoring in bunches. He was also
crucial to the chemistry mix as a fixture in Butler's cherished games of
dominoes, either in transit or at team functions, late at night.

在熱火，Vincent是一個穩定的攻守控衛——願意為Butler讓位，但同時也有能力得分。他在團隊化學反應中也扮演著關鍵角色。他是Butler珍視的骨牌遊戲的常客，無論是在旅途中還是在球隊活動中，經常在深夜時一起玩遊戲。

"Some of it, just doing stuff off the court, playing dominoes, having dinner,extracurricular activities ..." Caleb Martin, now a teammate of Lowry's with
the 76ers, told me about the away-from-work dynamic Miami crafted.

"Whatever you do, that kinda trickles onto the court," Martin said. "It's
important to have that off-the-court stuff for sure."

"有些就是做一些場外的事，玩骨牌，一起吃飯，課外活動..."現在與Lowry一起效力76人隊的Caleb Martin向我談及熱火在場外建立的互動。

"無論你做什麼，都會影響到場上，"Martin說。"場外的事情肯定很重要。"

Martin's own end to his Miami tenure played out rather publicly this past
summer. The Heat, according to league sources, offered Martin a four-year,
$58 million extension ... if Martin first would have agreed to pick up his
$7.1 million player option for this season. Martin opted to seek a higher
figure on the open market and ultimately landed with the Sixers when such a
deal failed to materialize, while the Heat moved forward with a quiet
offseason designed to avoid the second luxury tax apron.

Martin在邁阿密效力的結束在這個夏天相當公開地上演。據聯盟消息源稱，熱火向Martin報價了一份4年5800萬美金的續約...前提是Martin先同意執行本賽季710萬美金的球員選項。Martin選擇在公開市場尋求更高的報價，在未能拿到心目中的合約後，最終加入了76人，而熱火則度過了一個平靜的休賽期，主要是要避免突破第二層硬上限。

"You hate to see stuff like that happen with the history that we had and the
run that we made and stuff there," Martin said of the recent headlines and
fallout sparked by Butler's suspension.

"看到這樣的事情發生，考慮到我們的過去和我們一起創造的成績，你會感到很遺憾，"
Martin談到最近因巴特勒被禁賽而引發的新聞和風波時說。

You'll recall that Martin's new team narrowly beat the Heat in a Play-In
Tournament game last April to advance to a first-round playoff series againstNew York. Butler left Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center that night limping
through a sprained MCL in his right knee that kept him sidelined through the
Heat's eventual first-round exit to Boston. The keys to Miami's offense this
season have since been seized by Herro, who is abundantly confident and — at
11 years younger than Butler — on a far different timeline.

你可能還記得，Martin的新東家在去年四月的附加賽中險勝熱火，晉級季後賽首輪對陣紐約尼克。那天晚上Butler帶著右膝MCL扭傷離開費城Wells Fargo中心，這讓他在熱火最終輸給賽爾提克的首輪系列戰中一直缺陣。本賽季熱火進攻的重任已經被Herro接管，他充滿自信，且比Butler年輕11歲，處在一個完全不同的時間線上。

Herro has only built on last spring's strong playoff performances by
averaging career-highs in points (23.8), rebounds (5.6) and assists (5.0)
while shooting 40.6% from long range. He can score at all three levels.
Perhaps all that success — from a player Miami was reportedly prepared to
trade for Damian Lillard leading into last season — has further nudged the
Heat into a new era that they've decided won't be Butler-centric.

Herro不僅延續了去年季後賽的強勢表現，場均得分（23.8）、籃板（5.6）和助攻（5.0）都還創下生涯新高，同時三分球命中率還能維持在40.6%。他能在所有三個區域得分。也許所有這些成功——來自一個據報導在上賽季開始前熱火準備用來交易Lillard的球員——進
一步推動熱火進入一個他們已決定不再以Butler為中心的新時代。

"I think it's part of growth," Martin said. "Growth with Bam and growth with
Tyler and everybody stepping into bigger roles and trying to figure out how
to make everything mesh at once. It's hard, man. There's only one basketball.

"Sometimes it's really tough at times. You got a lot of alphas there who are
trying to step into their own. And obviously Jimmy is Jimmy. It all stems
from guys being competitive and wanting to contribute at the highest level.
Anytime anybody feels like that's not happening, there's always gonna be a
little bit of friction."

"我認為這是成長的一部分，"Martin說。"Bam和Tyler的成長，以及每個人都在擔當更大的角色，試圖找出如何讓一切融合在一起。這很難。籃球只有一顆。"

"有時候真的很困難。那裡有很多性格強勢的人想要證明自己。而Butler就是Butler。這一切都源於球員們的好勝心和想在最高等級做出貢獻的願望。只要有人覺得這不如己意，就一定會有一些摩擦。"

So now we wait. How much friction, if any, can be suddenly shoved to the sideonce Butler's suspension concludes this week and the Heat — with no apparent
trade market for him — undertake the task of working the loudest of the
alphas back into their locker room?

熱火將面臨一項棘手的任務：如何讓這位性格最強勢的"領袖"重回更衣室，並平息可能存在的摩擦——尤其是在當前似乎沒有任何明顯的交易市場為他開啟的情況下？

What happens if the Heat can't find a palatable Butler trade before the Feb.
6 trade deadline? Is Butler going to hold firm on his well-chronicled plans
to bypass a $52.4 million player option for next season? Wouldn't it be
easier for Butler to be traded this offseason if he picks up that option?

如果熱火在2月6日交易截止日期前無法找到一筆合適的交易來送走Butler，接下來會發生什麼？Butler是否會堅持他早已公開的計畫，拒絕執行下賽季價值5240萬美元的球員選項?如果Butler選擇執行該選項，是否會讓熱火更容易在休賽季將他交易出去?

There are seemingly only questions when it comes to how Jimmy Butler and the
Miami Heat will ultimately part ways. Questions and lingering memories from
the days, not so long ago, when all the stories were about how Butler and theHeat looked made for each other.

圍繞Jimmy Butler與邁阿密熱火最終該如何分道揚鑣，似乎只有無盡的疑問和未解的謎團。使人回想起了不久前的那些記憶——那時所有的故事都在強調Butler與熱火有多完美契
合，如今的局面更加耐人尋味。

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