翻译by Sibannac （原译者着作权宣告：本译文不接受任何形式的转录） http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8179081/nba-jeremy-lin-six-degrees- separation-new-york-knicks http://0rz.tw/kO8Xo == How the Knicks' front office went from embracing Jeremy Lin to letting him go By Brian Windhorst | ESPN.com 六度分离之离别：Jeremy Lin - 第二章：「尼克」 尼克的制服组，如何从拥抱 Jeremy Lin，到让他离开 原作者：Brian Windhorst 翻译：Sibannac When the news became official in late June, the Knicks' front office was quite excited about its offseason plans and options. Jeremy Lin was very much in the middle of them and the email that arrived from the league office seemed to guarantee he would be in New York for years to come. 六月底，当鸟权仲裁的结果正式公布，尼克高层是相当开心的，仲裁的结果对他们休赛 季的规划和球队补强很有帮助。 来自NBA连盟办公室的email，似乎就是Lin在下个球季 会回到尼克队的保证。 Yes, Lin's free agency would have to be dealt with. But the free agency period, starting July 1, seemed for the Knicks to be a case of merely adding to its roster, not subtracting from it. 当然，在今年的自由球员市场上，尼客一定要面对的是Lin的合约，不过从七月一日自由 球员市场开放，到林书豪正式与火箭签约的这段时间中，尼克在球员名单上作的动作一直 是签人增加名单，还没有放弃哪个球员的打算。(译注：:这段时间尼克签约的有JR Camby. Kidd ,Novak 等人) Less than three weeks later, Lin was the new point guard for the Houston Rockets, after an unforeseen turn of events that has left hard feelings all around. Now the parties are moving on to see who gets the last laugh. 然後，不到三个星期的时间，林书豪就变成火箭的新任控卫了，这个意想不到的转折，对 任何一方来说都不太好受。在事件告一段落的现在，大家等着要看，谁才会是真正笑到最 後的一方？ In the memo that arrived on that last business day in the NBA fiscal year, June 29, the league and the National Basketball Players Association announced an agreement on a dispute that involved Lin and Steve Novak, two Knicks who were to become eligible for free agency. The agreement assured the Knicks would hold the Bird rights for each player -- a matter that had been unresolved because of some conflicting language in the new collective bargaining agreement -- and would be able to re-sign both free agents without losing the flexibility to add other players. 在6/29 ，2011-12球季的最後一个工作日，针对鸟权仲裁中的争议，联盟和球员工会发布 了协议声明(联盟对仲裁结果放弃上诉)，这个仲裁和Lin与Steve Novak，两个即将投入自 由市场的尼克成员有关，这次的协议声明，保障尼克拥有这两个球员的鸟权--因新版CBA 条文产生的鸟权争议--可以签下这两个(受限制)自由球员，而不影响签下其它球员 的薪资弹性。 The Knicks would be able to keep their taxpayer's midlevel exception of $3 million. And according to sources, and they had a bevy of names they planned to chase using sign-and-trade options. Using some prudent long-term planning, the Knicks had assembled a cadre of players on non-guaranteed contracts for the 2012-13 that could be used in such deals. 尼克可以保有他们300万的小中产特例，并且，消息人士说，尼克还有一堆想用先签後换 找来的球员名单，尼克手上有一些2012-13的非保障约来作先签後换的筹码。 Steve Nash -- like Lin, a point guard -- was at the top of their free agent wish list, but they knew that in any case they could retain Lin, and they were confident they would. The Knicks told the 23-year-old phenom that they wanted him back and saw him having a major role -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson had spoken of Lin openly as the incumbent starter, although the Nash pursuit clouded that. And the Knicks had reason to be confident, as they had the right to match any contract offered to Lin from another team, given his status as a restricted free agent. Steve Nash --控卫(和Lin一样的位置)—是尼克追逐的球员名单上的第一位，尼克知道， 反正无论其它队伍怎麽报价，他们都有鸟权可以留下Lin。尼克告诉这个二十三岁，引起 热潮的球员，我们想要你回来，你会扮演球队重要的角色—总教练Mike Woodson也公开表 示，Jeremy Lin是尼克”现任”的先发控卫。尽管追逐Nash的说法甚嚣尘上，尼克对此还 是很有信心，因为，在Jeremy Lin是受限制自由球员(RFA)的情形下，尼客有权跟进任何 对Jeremy Lin的报价。 The Knicks took the position than many teams do with restricted free agents, inviting such players to test the market and even get an offer sheet from another team. And while they knew this would benefit Lin, who as a so-called "Early Bird" free agent could get a bigger offer from another team than from the Knicks, they still signaled throughout that they would match any offer he received. 受限制自由球员(RFA)的市场上，尼克有比其他队伍更多的机会(因为两人的鸟权)，他们 让球员去市场上试试水温，拿到来自任何一队的报价，而且尼克也知道这对Jeremy Lin有 利，作为拥有早鸟权的自由球员，可以从其他球队拿到比母队尼克直接开出的，更大的合 约，尽管如此，尼克显示的讯号是，他们会匹配任何Jeremy Lin收到的合约. For these reasons, the Knicks actually never made Lin a formal contract offer, sources say. 消息人士说，因为以上这些原因，所以在Lin跟火箭签约之前，尼克的确，从来没有，给 林任何正式的合约。 A week into free agency, news arrived that Lin had agreed to a four-year offer sheet with the Houston Rockets that included $19.5 million guaranteed (and a fourth year with a team option, taking the total offer to $28.8 million). The Knicks felt this was a reasonable price. 自由市场开市一周後，消息传来，Jeremy Lin同意了休士顿火箭队的报价，这份四年的合 约包括1950万的保证约(第四年是球队选择权，四年合约总金额是2880万)，尼克觉得，这 是一份堪称合理的报价。 While Lin would not be able to sign the offer sheet until July 11 or later, because of league rules, the Knicks were confident they would match the offer sheet, and this stance was widely reported. In interviews, Woodson said the Knicks would "absolutely" match the offer. Nash was already off the market, and the NBA world -- and the legions of Lin fans -- assumed that Lin's return to New York was a mere formality. 根据联盟规定，林在7/11之前不能正式签约，不过此时的尼克已表现出强烈跟进合约的决 心，不仅各方报导这样认为，尼克总教练Mike Woodsony也在公开访谈中说尼克「当然」 会跟进合约。这个当下，Nash已经确定去湖人，不在球员市场上了，整个NBA，还有林的 粉丝军团，都觉得林回到尼克是一定的，只差一个正式签约的仪式而已。 But the Rockets had a surprise up their sleeves. Perhaps spurred by Woodson's comments, they raised the guaranteed amount of the offer (while lopping off the unguaranteed fourth year), taking it from $19.5 million to $25.1 million. Still, an increase of $5.6 million (plus attendant luxury tax penalties) over three seasons wasn't expected by most observers to deter the Knicks. 不过火箭给了大家一点「惊喜」，这可能是因为 ，Mike Woodson说尼客当然会match林和 火箭的合约，促使火箭在正式的合约中，把原本合约中的保障金额从1950万提高成2510万 ，(同时把非保障的第四年去掉，变成三年约)，这份合约在第三年多出560万(以及随之而 来的奢侈税惩罚)，不过在多数评论者的眼中，这个数字还是吓不倒尼克的。 While waiting for the offer sheet to arrive, and even avoiding delivery for a day or so, the Knicks had their own surprise in store -- they moved forward with free agent point guard , a former Knick, and reached an agreement on Saturday, July 14. Rumors spread that the Knicks might not be bringing Lin back after all, and that new stance was confirmed over the weekend by ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, talking to sources close to the Knicks. 然而尼克，在等待火箭递交合约的同时----尼克甚至为了延迟跟进合约的期限，躲了一天 左右--竟然也端出了一份惊喜，他们把目光转向自由市场上的其他控卫，某个前尼克成员 ，在7/14星期六这天签下了合约，这时後，大量的传闻开始认为，尼克可能不会把林签回 来了。尼克可能不跟进的新立场，也在这个周末，由ESPN的Stephen A. Smith(SAS)，根 据和尼克消息来源的谈话，被证实了。 What happened? 这究竟是怎麽回事？ Somewhere in the process, hard feelings developed on each side. As Chris Broussard reports, the Lin camp felt a lack of enthusiasm from the Knicks that seemed to them like disrespect. At the same time, the Knicks were stung by Lin's willingness to work out a $14.9 million salary in the third year of the offer sheet -- while a backloaded offer for Lin had been widely expected to arrive from some team, the sizable increase became a stumbling block. While from the Houston point of view it was good strategy, and while the Lin camp was going about the business of getting the best offer it could, the Knicks were displeased. 在这过程中，两方的感觉都不太好过，根据Chris Broussard的报导，Lin的阵营觉得在整 个过程中，尼克并没有展现热忱和尊重，而尼克则被林愿意签下第三年1490万合约的行为 刺伤了—尽管先前众人就预期，会有球队提出这种第三年後暴涨的合约—然而这增加的幅 度之大，还是变成签约路上的一块绊脚石。对火箭来说，这无疑是正确的策略。对林阵营 来说，这只是在商言商，想办法得到对自己而言最好的合约，但尼克呢，就不太开心了。 Lin would later tell Sports Illustrated that he had hoped to return to New York, but the new offer changed the Knicks' perspective. Despite his amazing popularity and the potential business benefits to the company -- which have been much debated -- the Knicks found the new offer too rich for their tastes, especially with Felton and free agent signee Jason Kidd ready to step into the point guard position. 林在稍後的访谈中告诉运动画报，他是希望能回到尼克队的。 但这份新合约改变了尼克的计划，尽管林拥有超高人气和对无穷的商机(对企业而言这 商业利益究竟是多少，是受到争议的，在稍後有详细解释)，尼克发现这份新合约对他们 来说太大了，特别是在他们签下Jason Kidd 和 Felton两个控卫後，更是如此。 "Only Jeremy and his agents know for sure what their motive was," one league executive said. "But it does appear like they overplayed their hand if he truly hoped to stay in New York. They got the strong impression that the Knicks would match anything. They didn't anticipate [New York] had a backup plan." 「Jeremy Lin和经纪团队签这份合约的动机，只有他们自己知道」 联盟的一位职员说， 「不过如果Jeremy Lin真的很想回到尼克，这就玩得有点过火了，他们认为尼克无论如何 都会匹配合约，没有去防范，尼克其实是有备案的」 According to Knicks sources, the team believed that Lin and his representatives were trying to squeeze the team that gave him his big break. Despite the good vibes around Lin during the season, the Knicks questioned if he was truly being a team player, particularly in terms of the contract negotiations. From the Knicks' perspective, it appeared Lin might've been working against them and perhaps taking them for granted. 消息来源说，尼克相信林的所作所为，是要把这个曾经赋予他机会的球队给榨乾，尽管在 球季中，围绕着林产生的球队默契很好，尼克仍然怀疑林是否真的是个team player，尤 其是在合约协商上，尼克认为林可能是在跟他们作对，把一切想得太理所当然。 The Knicks' other major acquisitions had shown a strong desire to be in New York. Amare Stoudemire had said yes when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh had said no.Carmelo Anthony stonewalled the New Jersey Nets and other teams because he only wanted to be in New York, forcing his way there in a trade. 尼克的其它主力成员，展现了待在纽约的强烈意愿，当LeBron James, Dwyane Wade 和 Chris Bosh都拒绝的时候，Amare Stoudemire点头来到纽约，Carmelo Anthony拒绝了当 时纽泽西篮网和其它球队，因为他只想到纽约来，也促成了尼克和金块的交易案。 Knicks owner James Dolan has been considered by many to be the key player on the Knicks' side of this saga, and that's a fair assessment -- he's a powerful, engaged owner. While the secretive Knicks will likely never explain all of their reasoning, we know that Dolan is especially loyal and favorable to players, like Anthony and Stoudemire, who demonstrate a desire to be with the Knicks. 大部分的人认为，尼克老板James Dolan，在这故事里是尼克方的主要推手，这说法没错 ，他是个威权的老板，尽管神秘的尼克似乎不会透露他们(不跟进合约)的理由，不过我们 所知道的James Dolan，的确对像Anthony和 Stoudemire这种，宣示自己对尼客队忠心耿 耿的球员，显示出特别的喜好和偏爱。 And beyond the personal reasons, there were business and basketball reasons for the Knicks to be concerned. By signing Lin, the Knicks would have been looking at a luxury tax bill that would likely have set new NBA records. Even for a team accustomed to paying such taxes, this was too rich, the Knicks believed, for a point guard who had started just 25 games in his brief career. 个人原因外，商业利益和篮球因素也是尼克考量的重点，如果签下林，尼克将面临上看 NBA新纪录的奢侈税，即使尼克是一支很习惯缴奢侈税的球队，他们仍认为，为了一个到 目前为止，生涯仅仅先发出战25场的控卫，缴这个金额也太多了。 From the New York point of view, was Lin worth an average of $8 million per season -- plus penalties -- when they could get Felton for less than half that? 站在尼克的角度，Lin真的值得平均每年800万美金的薪资—还有那些奢侈税吗？当尼克可 以用不到一半的价钱得到Felton的时候？ Furthermore, the Knicks calculated that Linsanity might not be worth as much as assumed. While the value of the Lin phenonemon has been much discussed, the Knicks saw it differently from most observers. Their season-ticket sales were strong and their sponsorships were stronger. Any money from the sale of Lin jerseys or Knicks' merchandise around the world goes into a leaguewide pool, with the Knicks getting the same portion as any other team, according to revenue-sharing rules. Likewise, their share of the league's TV contracts would not change whether Lin was on the team or not, no matter how many people in New York or Asia were watching. 进一步来说，在尼克的算法里，Linsanity带来的商业利益，并没有大家认为那麽多。当 众人都在讨论林风潮带来的价值的时候，尼克的看法不同，尼克的季票销售本来就很好， 赞助厂商更多，而根据联盟的收益分享原则，Lin的尼克球衣的全球销售金额，是和全联 盟的其它球衣收益一同计算，再重新分配，尼克拿到的比例和其它球队是一样的，同样的 ，来自联盟的电视转播收益的比例，也不会因为Lin在不在尼克而有所改变，不管纽约和 亚洲有多少人在看转播。、 On the court, the Knicks believed they were already in good shape, with Anthony and Tyson Chandler under long-term contract along with Stoudemire. Two additions, Kidd and Marcus Camby, would provide them depth and experience, as would two re-signed players, Novak and J.R. Smith. Even without Lin, the Knicks believed they would be better than they were last season. 尼克认为，在球场上，他们在下一季的阵容也已经很好，有Anthony 、Tyson Chandler ，还有 Stoudemire这三个球员的长约，又补进Kidd和Marcus Camby，他们经验老道，能 增加替补的深度，又重签Novak和J.R. Smith。即使没有Lin，尼克也会比上一季更好。 Dolan has been known to disregard hard data at times and reward players with whom he has good relationships -- in some such cases, his decisions can seem emotional. In this case, sources said, it was the lack of such emotion that contributed to the decision to let Lin go. While Knicks fans had fallen in love with Lin, Dolan and his front office, especially after the way the process had unfolded, had no such attachment in the end. 尼克老板Dolan，如大家所知，他有时会不顾真实的(球场)数据，感情用事地给那些和他 关系良好的球员，过於丰厚的酬劳。而这一次，消息来源说，Dolan并没有展现这种热情 。尽管尼克的球迷深爱着Lin，Dolan和尼克高层却没有，尤其是在这样的谈判签约过程 後，尼克的高层不像他们的球迷，最终，他们并没有向Lin表示如纽约球迷般的迷恋。 "There were a dozen reasons the Knicks didn't match -- it was part business, part emotion and part long-term planning," a source with knowledge of the Knicks thinking said. "I understand that people want the decision to be simplified but it isn't simple." 「我们可以说出一打尼克不跟进的理由—一部份是商业的，也有情感的因素在里面，跟球 队的长程计划也有关系」一位了解尼克想法的知情人士说：「我明白大家希望决定可以单 纯一点，但决策的过程总不会是这麽简单。」 So they passed. And Lin became an ex-Knick. 所以，尼克不跟进，然後Lin，成为一个「前任」尼克队员。 -- --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 114.34.108.34 所有的翻译 credit 都是 Sibannac 的，我只是代 PO。 :) ※ 编辑: puppetsgame 来自: 114.34.108.34 (07/20 21:41)