LaVine專訪：談招募DeRozan、公牛改造與球隊現況

Zach LaVine的合約在芝加哥悄悄的進入倒數計時，對公牛管理層來說這是值得全神貫注完成的大事。


自 Arturas Karnisovas於2020年4月擔任籃球運營總裁以來，公牛可以說是聯盟最具發展性的球隊。從2021年季中交易來Nikola Vucevic，接著在去年夏天網羅DeMar DeRozan和Lonzo Ball，加上從湖人手中搶走Alex Caruso，這一切作為幫助公牛成為東區炙手可熱的勁旅。

公牛希望在LaVine進入自由市場前打出好成績，這是任何球隊想留下球星的基礎。另一方面，雖然LaVine迄今為止一直對這個話題發言保守，但在今年夏天肯定會有一筆豐厚的大合約等著奉上。


如果LaVine本賽季能夠以場均24.6分4.9籃板4.5助攻的數據進入NBA最佳陣容，那麼他將有資格在獲得一份5年約2.45億美元的超級頂薪合約。NBA中只有少數26歲或更年輕的球員擁有這樣的身價：Luka Doncic、Donovan Mitchell、Jayson Tatum等人。

在全明星周末慶祝活動中，媒體與LaVine坐下來討論芝加哥正在進行的改造、他為招募DeRozan的努力以及公牛的現況。


Q：DeMar和湖人的人談了很多，你也在招募他。今年夏天你和他的談話是怎樣的，他們是什麼時候開始的？

A：在奧運會期間確實如此，然後一切都在那之後取得了成果。顯然，我知道他肯定在與湖人溝通，可能還有其他幾支球隊進行談判，我很高興我們得到了他。

Q：你在日本的時候？

A：當我在海外時，是的。有幾個晚上，我在凌晨3點左右打電話給他，只想和他談談自由球員市場情況以及我們如何讓它發揮作用。當我回來時，我們聚在一起。很明顯簽約發生了，我們在休賽期開始一起訓練，我們很早來到了芝加哥，因為這是一支很新的球隊。幾乎每個人都是隊中的新人，我們在這個過程中很早就啟動了。我認為這就是為什麼我們有良好化學反應的原因。


Q：Lonzo的情況是不是也一樣？

A：Zo的情況有點不同，因為他是先簽後換。在他簽約後，我們就聯繫了對方一起去健身房。我們從加州大學洛杉磯分校就認識了，剛剛能聚在一起，開始努力將這支球隊重新建立在應有的位置上。

Q：在即將到來的合約談判之前，與這支球隊一起進入季後賽並與這些人進行深入交流有多重要？

A：對我來說，這甚至與我的合約無關。我是競爭者，我想打季後賽，在大舞台上打球。合約，一切，一切都來了。你必須每天都參加比賽才能到達那裡，然後一但季後賽到來，我們就必須去做我們該做的事。你知道我真的很興奮，我真的很高興能站在那個舞台上，因為我還沒有到過那裡。


Q：教練團和管理層是如何談論你本賽季想要做好防守的。那是思維方式的轉變嗎？您在這方面採取了哪些確實的改進措施？

A：我只是想提高我的比賽水平。今年的奧運會幫助了我，因為我們每個人都必須在本質上發揮作用。那支球隊的每個人每場都能得25分，26分，在那個團隊中，我們並不是所有人都要做到這點，所以我真的鎖定並嘗試成為邊路防守球員，全場接球，抄截，控球，阻攻。不管它是為了幫助球隊獲勝，因為你必須犧牲一點自己才能獲得團隊成功。


Q：有沒有一刻你相信你可以成為那個在季後賽中肩負球隊的人？

A：是的，這就是你工作的目的。顯然我們還沒有進入季後賽，我們現在正朝著這個目標前進。但是我每年進入休賽期都會試圖讓我的球隊處於這些位置，我很高興我們現在正朝著這個方向前進。

Q：像Caruso和DeMar這樣勤奮的人，他們對如何繼續推動目標有什麼信息？

A：你只需要每天保持一致並且保有對冠軍的渴望。每一天，你都必須有一個目標並達到我們正在為某事建設的心態。這不僅僅是“哦，我們贏了或輸了這場比賽”。你必須每天都有奪冠的渴望。我認為每個人都更加專注，更有話直說。通過投籃訓練、戰術、賽後，談論我們可以做得更好的地方或者我們做得好的部份，並且進行調整。


Q：聯盟裡的人曾懷疑這個名單是否合適。DeMar和Vuc都喜歡打高位，你和DeMar都喜歡用手中的球進行創造進攻。有沒有一種關於思想融合上的努力，一種關於進攻會是什麼樣子的合作，所有部分如何結合在一起，並在某種程度上挑戰懷疑者？

A：我認為我們很早就進入了訓練營，並允許每個人做他們最擅長的事情，我們不會妨礙對方。團隊中沒有一個人的身體裡有自私的因子，為了更大的利益，我們都犧牲了一些東西，我想每個人都在從中獲益。

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引用來源

引用DeMar was talking with the Lakers guys pretty thoroughly. You were recruiting him behind the scenes as well. I was told DeMar partly wanted to head back East with an eye towards returning to the All-Star Game. What were your conversations like with him this summer, and when did they begin?

During the Olympics it did, and then obviously everything came to fruition after that. Obviously I knew he was definitely in talks with the Lakers and probably a couple of other teams. I'm just happy that we got him.

引用來源2

引用While you were in Japan?

While I was overseas, yes. There were some nights, I called him one night at like 3 a.m. because of the time change, just to talk to him about how everything was going on with free agency and how we could make it work. And when I came back, we got together. Obviously the signing happened, we started working out together in the offseason, and we both came to Chicago early because it's a pretty new team. Pretty much everyone's new on the team. We started off really early on in the process. I think that's why we have such good chemistry.

引用來源3

引用Did Lonzo's situation come together the same way?

Zo's situation was a little bit different, because his was a sign-and-trade, but the same thing. Obviously after he signed, we contacted each other about getting in the gym. We've known each other since UCLA already and just got together and got started working on building this team back to where it should be.

引用來源4

引用How important is getting into that postseason environment with this group and making a deep run with these guys before your upcoming contract negotiations?

For me, it's not even about my contract. I'm a competitor. I want to go to the playoffs and play on the big stage. Contract, everything, that all comes. But I look at it day by day. You can't get to April in a day. You're gonna have to play and compete each and every day to get there, and then once the playoffs come, we gotta go do our thing. You know I'm really excited. I'm really excited to be on that stage, because I haven't been there yet.

引用來源5

引用The coaching staff and the front office were really talking about how you were really talking about wanting to commit defensively this season. Was that just a mindset switch? Was that watching tape with somebody on staff? What steps did you tangibly make to improve in that regard?

I'm just trying to improve my game. The Olympics this year helped me because we each had to play a role essentially. Everybody on that team scores 25, 26 points per game. We're not all gonna be able to do that on that team. So I really locked in and tried to be the wing defensive guy, pick up guys full court, get steals, take charges, get blocks. Whatever it was just to help the team win and obviously just implement that into the next year. Because you're gonna have to sacrifice a bit of yourself to gain success as a team.

引用來源6

引用Was there a moment when you believed you could be that guy to shoulder a team through the playoffs?

Yeah, that's what you work for. Obviously we haven't made the playoffs and we're on track to do that now. But I go into the offseason each and every year trying to put my team in those positions and I'm glad that we're on track to do that now.

引用來源7

引用Guys like Caruso and DeMar who have made deep runs, what's been their message about how to continue to move this thing forward?

You just gotta be consistent everyday and have championship habits. Each and every day you have to have a goal in mind and get to that mindset of we're building for something. It's not just, "Oh, we won or lost this game." You have to have championship habits each and every day. I think everybody's a lot more locked in, a lot more vocal. Through shootarounds, scripts, after games, guys talk about what we could've done better or what we did well and could still do adjustments on. That's definitely a little bit different.

引用來源8

引用From the outside, people around the league were really skeptical of this roster's fit. DeMar and Vuc both like to work out the high post. You and DeMar both like to create with the ball in your hands. Was there kind of a mind-melding effort, a collaboration on what your offense was going to look like, how all the pieces could come together, and sort of defy the doubters?

I think we came into camp early and we're allowing everybody to do what they do best. We're not getting in each other's way. There's no one on the team that has a selfish bone in their body. We've all sacrificed a little bit of something for the greater good, and I think everybody's eating from it.