Pritchard Eager to Start Dramatic Offseason
Mark Montieth on May 01, 2019.
Source:
https://www.nba.com/pacers/news/pritchard-eager-start-dramatic-offseason
It's the summer of unprecedented cap space. Also the summer of opportunity,
thinking on your feet, acting quickly, and taking some educated risks.
手里握著史无前例的宽广薪资空间，对溜马来说这将会是个充满机会、考验反应、手脚要
快而且得冒些险的夏天。
Kevin Pritchard and Nate McMillan met with the media on Wednesday to wrap up
the Pacers season that ended with 48 victories and a first-round playoff
exit, but more importantly to look ahead to an immediate future that likely
will have major ramifications on the next few seasons, at least.
Kevin Pritchard和Nate McMillan在本周三的季末会议上总结了这个例行赛48胜、季后赛
一轮跪的赛季，不过更重要的是眼前这个将会影响深远的休赛季。
The Pacers have seven free agents among the 13 players who dressed for their
playoff games, at least $43 million in cap space, and the 18th pick in the
NBA Draft. They'll try to piece together the puzzle of those roster openings,
available money, and other assets to try to bring improvement to a team that
has exceeded expectations each of the past two seasons but hasn't advanced
past the first round of the playoffs since 2014.
在季后赛有出场的13位球员中有7位即将在本季成为FA，带来了至少43m的薪资空间，再加
上第18顺位的选秀签。球团将利用这空出来的轮值名单、薪资空间以及其他的资产，试图
为这支虽然在过去两个赛季有超乎预期的表现，却自从2014年后季后赛全部一轮游的球队
带来更大的突破。
Pritchard promised to be "super aggressive" in his approach to the
franchise's reconstruction period, with no limits placed on his resources for
doing so by owner Herb Simon. Pritchard has just one proven All-Star caliber
player in Victor Oladipo, and obviously needs more to compete with those
teams still operating in the playoffs.
如果溜马想跟目前还在季后赛的那些球队竞争的话，除了阵中的全明星球员Victor
Oladipo以外明显还需要更多。在球团老板Herb Simon大开绿灯后，Pritchard保证了会把
握这次重建的机会做出“非常积极”的操作。
That means they won't shy away from pursuing anyone out of a belief they have
no shot.
这意味着他们将不吝于挑战那些大家不认为溜马有机会追逐的球员。
"We'll go after 'em," Pritchard said during the press conference at Bankers
Life Fieldhouse. "We'll make the pitches. We're not afraid. We're willing to
think big.
“我们会去追的。”Pritchard在Bankers Life Fieldhouse的媒体会议上表示：“我们无
惧于做出尝试，我们会有些大胆的想像。”
"I gave my management staff a book here recently, The Magic of Thinking Big.
We want to think big. It may happen, it may not happen. One thing we believe
very strongly in is that once you sign with us we'll do our best to make you
feel comfortable here and we'll do that with our daily actions."
“我最近给了我的管理团队一本书，‘大胆想像的魔法’(暂译)。我们想要有些大胆的想
像，它有可能成真也可能不会成真。但是唯一我们确信的是，只要是与溜马签约的球员，
我们每天都会尽最大的努力让你感到舒适。”
Pritchard emphasized that cap space can be utilized beyond signing free
agents. It could enable the Pacers (and other teams) under the cap to make
uneven trades that don't conform to the rule that the salaries of traded
players must be within 25 percent of one another. The Pacers, for example,
could trade a player earning $5 million for one making $15 if another team is
looking to shed payroll.
Pritchard强调了薪资空间不只能用在FA上，它也可能用来帮其他球队省点薪资支出。
The luxury tax won't come into play for the Pacers this summer unless they
re-sign most or all of their free agents. The tax only comes into play when
teams have used all their cap space and want to re-sign one of their own free
agents.
除非溜马续签了他们本季全部或大部分的FA，否则溜马队本季不需要烦恼奢侈税的问题。
Pritchard, however, said he is confident owner Herb Simon will allow him to
cross the tax threshold when the time comes, if necessary.
不过Pritchard也提到，他有信心Herb Simon会愿意让他在必要的时候超出税线干大事。
"Herb wants to win," Pritchard said.
Pritchard：“Herb很想赢。”
"We set a budget. It's a very high budget, I will tell you that. Herb has
never told me no if it makes the team better. Not one time. I want to think
big, but the one thing we take a lot of pride in here is paying players
appropriately. We have a hierarchy that we believe in. But if a special
circumstance comes up, I have no hesitation in believing Herbie will say,
'Let's do it, if it's the right player and it can take us to another level.'"
“我可以告诉你，我们设了个预算，很高的预算。Herb从来没有拒绝过任何能让球队变得
更好的操作。我有些大胆的想像，但是我们也很自豪支付给球员的薪水总是恰到好处。我
们有我们排好的优先次序，但是如果有些特殊的情况发生了，我完全相信Herb会对我说：
‘如果这就是那个能带我们走向不同层级的球员，那就做吧！’”
The Pacers also have the 18th pick in the draft. Pritchard said he would "not
be surprised" if it's used in a trade and promised to be aggressive with it.
溜马今年也有第18顺位的选秀签，Pritchard表示这支签将会被积极地运用，如果在交易
中被用掉他也不会意外。
All in all, the summer represents a rare opportunity for Pritchard and his
staff to remake the roster, but also exceptional pressure to make the right
decisions.
总而言之，对于Pritchard和他的团队来说，这个夏天将是重新打造球队的大好机会，但
该如何做出正确的决定势必也会带来巨大的压力。
Pritchard can't wait to get started.
而Pritchard已经迫不及待要开工了。
"I'm more excited about the draft and free agency than I've ever been," he
said. "There's such a high degree of variability. I don't know if it's even
possible to come up with every scenario. We spend hours on the board going,
'OK, so if he goes here and he goes here, and they spend their money, does
that make this player (available)?' Because almost 40 percent of the players
in this league are free agents, you're going to have unbelievable movement. I
think we have to be prepared to be opportunistic and I think we have to be
able to do it very quickly. You have to be able to move at a moment's notice,
and you have to be in those conversations.
“这是我对选秀和FA最兴奋的一次。”
“未来有着许多变量存在，我不知道是否有可能去设想到所有的剧本。我们花了无数的时
间不断沙盘推演：‘OK，如果这家伙去了这里、那家伙去了那里，那个球队把他们的钱花
光了，这样的话我们是不是有机会能弄到这个球员？’因为在这个休赛季有40%左右的球
员将会进入自由市场，你将会看到一些难以置信的转队发生。我想我们已经准备好抓住出
现的任何机会，在机会来临时马上下手。你得要把握好转瞬即逝的时机，参与到那些对话
里面去。”
"When Larry (Bird) was the president and I was the general manger, my job was
to pound the pavement and understand what was going on. So I've challenged
Peter (Dinwiddie) and Chad (Buchanan) and Kelly (Krauskopf) to pound the
pavement. I want to know exactly what's going on and what could go on. We're
going to call audibles. This is the audible summer. So I think if you're
prepared with your rankings with your hierarchy and when you've done your
intel and you know what players fit us and what players don't and what you're
willing to spend on these players, I think that gives you an opportunity to
call the right audible."
“当Larry Bird是总裁而我还是GM的时候，我的工作是到处打听消息并搞清楚现在发生了
什么事。所以现在我也要求Peter、Chad和Kelly去做同样的事，我想要知道目前正在发生
的以及未来可能发生的情况。我们会打很多电话，这是个需要聆听的夏天。所以我想如果
你准备好了对球员的分级以及优先次序，在确立了核心之后你就会知道谁适合、谁不适合
你的球队，以及你愿意在他们身上付出多少，这样就能让你有机会拨出最该打的那通电话
。”
While smaller market teams generally don't fare as well in the free agent
marketplace, Pritchard believes the Pacers' culture and facilities could help
facilitate some opportunities.
尽管小市场球队在自由市场上通常没办法很有表现，Pritchard仍相信溜马的文化与体系
可以抓到一些机会。
"We believe we are player-centric," Pritchard said. "The players know they'll
be taken care of...and they know we're going to win. The more you can prove
you will take care of your players and you develop your players and you're
all about winning, then you have a chance."
“我们是以球员为本的。”Pritchard说：“球员知道他们会被照顾地很好，而且也知道
我们是来赢球的。当你能够证明对球员的照顾、球员成长的帮助以及对胜利的渴望...
那么你会有机会的。”
译注：
KP在季末会议上展现要在休赛季大展身手的决心，
尽管我们不是大市场球队，那几个S级球星大概很难抓到...
不过至少有薪资空间就有机会，等著看制服组了。
下篇的部份预计会等到明天。