By Jeff McDonald, Spurs Writer | San Antonio Express-News, 2024-04-19 14:37:46
由Gemini Pro人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
俄克拉荷马州俄克拉荷马城—— 2024 年 4 月 10 日：在俄克拉荷马城 Paycom 中心对阵俄克拉荷马城雷霆队的比赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队的特雷·琼斯 #33 在上半场运球上场。
对于特雷·琼斯来说，这场灌篮是从一个挑战开始的。
在马刺队周日的最后一场比赛中，德文·瓦塞尔一直戏弄这位身高 6 英尺 1 英寸的球队控球后卫，因为本赛季他完全没有扣篮。
当琼斯在马刺队结束本赛季大比分战胜底特律的比赛中抢断快攻时，他想都不想就决定如何处理球。
“感谢德文激励了我，”琼斯说。“我今年必须给他送一次扣篮。”
对于琼斯来说，这是一个罕见的时刻，他在 NBA 四个赛季中始终重视实质而非风格。
琼斯给马刺队每晚带来的稳定感常常被低估，即使是他的主教练也如此。
“他总是被低估，因为他每天都做同样的事情，”格雷格·波波维奇说。“他的稳定性爆表。”
但这并没有阻止马刺队不断尝试替换 24 岁的琼斯作为球队的首发控球后卫，这一努力可能会在本休赛期继续下去。
尽管琼斯在 2022-23 赛季的 68 场比赛中首发 65 场，但在皮沃特到潜力更好的投篮手马拉基·布兰哈姆之前，马刺在赛季初期用体型更大的杰里米·索汉替换了他。
当这两次行动都没有取得成效时，波波维奇在 1 月中旬将球交还给了琼斯，这也许是他一直应处的位置。
琼斯再也没有替补。
“我本赛季肯定成长了很多，”琼斯说。“我今年想做的事情就是成为一个更具号召力的领导者，用语言激励大家。我认为我能够朝正确的方向迈出一步。”
琼斯场均得到 10 分和全队最高的 6.2 次助攻。他的表现稳扎稳打，虽然算不上精彩，但在至少出战 50 场比赛的球员中，他的助攻失误率排在联盟前 10 名。
除了个人数据之外，琼斯还在上场时帮助马刺队发挥得更好。
在他进入首发阵容之前，球队战绩为 5 胜 28 负，以 12 胜的节奏前进。琼斯作为首发，马刺队取得了 16 胜 32 负的战绩，有望赢得 27 场胜利。
也许最重要的是，在围绕球星维克托·文班亚马建立化学反应方面，琼斯展现出了蓬勃发展的潜力。
琼斯是阵容中最有经验的控球后卫，他本赛季大部分时间都在指导学习该位置的年轻球员。
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“我从他那里学到了很多关于如何让人们获得投篮机会的知识，”替补球员布雷克·韦斯利说。“如果马拉基或者德文状态火热，他会找到办法让他们再投一次。我一直在看他，然后照他的做法去做。”
自 2020 年在第 2 轮被选中以来，琼斯一直被视为一位有能力的替补，而不是一个瞄准季后赛席位的球队的首发人选。
琼斯希望他在本赛季已经足够努力来摆脱这种耻辱。
“这是我今年绝对想证明的事情，”琼斯说。
马刺队在花了一整个赛季试图替换琼斯之后，是否仍然坚持让他成为未来的控球后卫，还有待观察。
当被问及琼斯是否已经做好了巩固自己在下赛季的首发阵容的工作时，总经理布莱恩·赖特将这个问题留给了主教练。
“这是一个很好的问题，留给波波吧。”赖特说。
赖特总体上对琼斯的整个赛季表现赞赏有加。
“他取得了很大的进步——决策、理解节奏、投篮、接球投篮，”赖特说。“我们希望他在明年继续成长。”
琼斯下个赛季的合同为 910 万美元。这不一定能阻止马刺在本赛季寻找他的替补。
自由球员市场上可能会出现多种选择，从老练的资深球员（迈克·康利）到久经沙场的 20 多岁的球员（蒙特·莫里斯）再到低成本的重建项目（马克尔·富尔茨）。
或者，马刺可以在圣安东尼奥制造一场兄弟间的竞争，并让琼斯年龄较大的兄弟泰厄斯参加竞选，后者在华盛顿度过了一个成功的赛季后将成为不受限制的自由球员。
马刺队在 6 月的选秀中也可能获得两个前 10 顺位，具体取决于多伦多的表现，并且可以用其中一个来选一名控球后卫。肯塔基州的罗伯·迪林厄姆和塞尔维亚球星尼古拉·托皮奇被认为是该位置上的最佳候选人。
琼斯认为此类人事问题超出了他的职责范围和控制范围。
“我只想提高我的比赛能力并让自己做好准备，以任何可能的方式帮助球队获胜，”琼斯说。“无论我在什么位置。”
这项努力将很快认真展开。本月琼斯的妻子麦迪将产下双胞胎，他计划将几周时间全部用于当父亲，然后再回到为自己的第五个 NBA 赛季做准备的艰苦工作中。
琼斯表示，在他将三分命中率提高到 33.5% 之后，他将继续特别重视自己的三分投篮。
“我们会经历新生儿阶段，然后我们会准备好投入工作，”琼斯说。
琼斯在周日为他本赛季的飙升送上了一个终结。
当他完成本赛季唯一一次扣篮和 NBA 生涯仅有的第五次扣篮时，马刺队的替补席几乎癫狂了，就好像他刚刚为他们赢得了总冠军一样。
“有些人怀疑我能否做到这点。”琼斯说。
到目前为止，在他的职业生涯中，琼斯已经习惯于向怀疑者证明他们是错的。
今年夏天，他可能只需要再次做到这一点。
原文如下：
Is Spurs' Tre Jones' starting job with the Spurs still up for grabs?
[Image] OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - APRIL 10: Tre Jones #33 of the San Antonio Spurs brings the ball up court during the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center on April 10, 2024 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
For Tre Jones, the dunk began with a dare.
Heading into the Spurs’ final game Sunday, Devin Vassell had been ribbing the team’s 6-foot-1 point guard about his complete dearth of slams this season.
When Jones got a steal in the open court during the Spurs’ campaign-closing blowout victory over Detroit, he didn’t think twice about what he wanted to do with the ball.
“Shout out to Dev for motivating me,” Jones said. “I had to give him one dunk this year.”
It was a rare moment of dazzle for Jones, whose game though four NBA seasons has prioritized substance over style.
The sense of stability Jones brings to the Spurs’ nightly proceedings has often been underappreciated, even by his head coach.
“He gets take for granted because he does the same thing every night,” Gregg Popovich said. “His consistency is off the charts.”
That hasn’t stopped the Spurs from constantly trying to replace the 24-year-old Jones as the team’s starting point guard, an effort that could continue this offseason.
Though Jones started in 65 of 68 appearances in 2022-23, the Spurs replaced him to open the season with the bigger Jeremy Sochan before pivoting to the potentially better-shooting Malaki Branham.
When neither move paid off, Popovich handed the ball back to Jones in mid-January, perhaps where it should have been all along.
Jones never came off the bench again.
“I grew a lot this season for sure,” Jones said. “Something I wanted to do this year was be more of a leader, vocally. I thought I was able to take steps in the right direction.”
Jones averaged 10 points and a team-best 6.2 assists. True to his solid-if-not-spectacular billing, he ranked in the league’s top 10 in assist-to-turnover ratio among players who played in at least 50 games.
Beyond individual numbers, Jones helped the Spurs function better when he was in the lineup.
The club was 5-28 before he entered the starting five, a 12-win pace. The Spurs went 16-32 with Jones as a starter, on pace for 27 wins.
Perhaps most important in his bid to stick around, Jones flashed a blossoming chemistry with star big man Victor Wembanyama.
The most experienced point guard on the roster, Jones spent much of his season mentoring younger players learning the position.
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“I learned a lot from him about getting people to where they need to get shots,” backup Blake Wesley said. “If Malaki is hot or Devin’s hot, he’s finding ways to get them another shot. I just continue to watch him and do what he does.”
Since being drafted in the second round in 2020, Jones has been viewed as a capable backup but not starter material on a team aiming for playoff berths.
Jones hopes he did enough to shake that stigma this season.
“It’s something I definitely wanted to prove this year,” Jones said.
Whether the Spurs stay committed to Jones as the point guard of the future after spending much of the present season trying to replace him remains to be seen.
Asked Sunday if Jones has done enough to cement himself in the starting lineup heading into next season, general manager Brian Wright deferred to the head coach.
“That’s a great question for Pop,” Wright said.
Wright was generally complimentary of Jones’ season as a whole.
“He has made great strides — the decision-making, understanding pace, the shooting, his catch-and-shoots,” Wright said. “We expect continued growth from him beyond this year.”
Jones is under contract for $9.1 million next season. That won’t necessarily stop the Spurs from shopping for his replacement this season.
A handful of options could be available during free agency, ranging from savvy veterans (Mike Conley) to battle-tested 20-somethings (Monte Morris) to low-cost reclamation projects (Markelle Fultz).
Or the Spurs could create a sibling rivalry in San Antonio and make a run at Jones’ older brother Tyus, who will be an unrestricted free agent after a solid season in Washington.
The Spurs also could have a pair of top 10 picks in the June draft, depending on whether Toronto’s conveys, and could use one of them on a point guard. Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham and Serbian star Nikola Topic are considered the top prospects at the position.
Jones considers such personnel questions to be above his pay grade and beyond his control.
“I just want to improve my game and set myself up to be able to help the team win in any way possible,” Jones said. “No matter what position I’m in.”
That endeavor will begin in earnest soon. With Jones’ wife, Maddy, due to deliver twins this month, he planned to devote a few weeks to full-time fatherhood before returning to the grind of preparing for his fifth NBA season.
Jones says he will continue to put particular emphasis on his 3-point shot after improving to 33.5 percent from beyond the arc.
“We’ll go through the newborn stage a bit and then we’ll be ready to get back to work,” Jones said.
Sunday, Jones was able to give his season a soaring sendoff.
When he finished his lone dunk of the season, and only the fifth of his NBA career, the Spurs’ bench went wild as if he had just won them a championship.
“Some guys were doubting I was able to do that stuff,” Jones said.
So far in his professional career, Jones has become accustomed to proving doubters wrong.
This summer, he might just have to do it again.
By Jeff McDonald, Spurs Writer, via San Antonio Express-News
