In the end, the Houston Rockets didn't get the blue-chip young player they boasted they would receive in return for James Harden -- the second-greatest player in franchise history, behind only Hakeem Olajuwon, and one of the league's all-time best scorers.

最终，在哈登的交易中火箭队没有得到他们想要的年轻基石球员。哈登，这是球队历史上第二大球员，仅次于奥拉朱旺，并且是全联盟最佳得分手之一。

①blue-chip: 稳妥可靠的

②franchise history: 球队历史

Victor Oladipo, acquired in exchange for Caris LeVert as part of this monstrosity, does not quite qualify. Oladipo is almost 29, two years and one major leg injury removed from his only All-NBA season. He has looked more like his old self this season; he is getting to the rim at a pre-injury level. But he alsois eligible for free agency this summer, when there will be oodles more cap space than available stars. It's not out of the realm of possibility the Rockets will have to pay Oladipo the maximum salary, or something close, to retain him--if they want to when the alternative is potential cap space.

奥拉迪波作为勒韦尔交易的一部分，并未完全证明自己。奥拉迪波已经快29岁了，他腿伤归来，距他上一次全勤赛季已经两年了。他本赛季看上去更像伤前的他了，他正处于受伤前状态的边缘。但他今年夏天会成为自由球员，届时会有更多的薪金空间签约球星。如果火箭想让奥拉迪波留下来，并提供顶薪或者接近顶薪，这也并不是不可能的事情。

①monstrosity/mɒnˈstrɒsəti/: A person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed.

②qualify: 证明…合格

③rim: 边缘

④be eligible for: 有资格的

⑤free agency: 自由球员

⑥oodles/ˈuːdlz/: 大量

⑦cap space: 工资帽空间

⑧the realm of possibility: 可能的范围

There are two questions that really matter about the Harden megadeal:

Did Houston get enough?

Did the Brooklyn Nets improve their championship odds enough to justify the massive pile of draft assets they forked over: three unprotected first-round picks and four unprotected swaps, a bounty that sustains through 2027--when Harden, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving will be ancient (by NBA standards) or retired?

The answers, from here, are "yes" and "maybe, but I'm wary because, umm, defense."

关于哈登的大交易，有两个真正重要的问题：

休斯敦得到的足够多吗吗？

篮网队是否提高了冠军赔率，足以证明他们送出一大堆选秀权是正确的：三个不受保护的首轮选秀权和四个不受保护的互换权，这将持续到2027年，届时哈登、KD和欧文可能已经巅峰不在或者退役了？

从这里得到的答案是“是”和“也许，但是我很谨慎，因为，嗯，防守”。

①megadeal: 巨额交易 (a business deal involving a lot of money)

②Brooklyn: 布鲁克林: 布鲁克林区位于美国东北部，纽约曼哈顿岛的东南边，是美国纽约州纽约市五大区中人口最多的一区﹙有250万居民﹚。如该区是一所城市，会是美国第四大城，它也是纽约市人口最多的区。对许多布鲁克林人来说，布鲁克林就是纽约。连口语也被说是布鲁克林英语。更有人说，典型纽约客锐利难缠的语言，假如不是在布鲁克林出生，亦肯定是在这个社区中熏陶出来的。政界人士和当地民权领袖爱说，美国人中，每七个便有一个的根可追溯到这儿；布鲁克林是杰出人士和诺贝尔奖主的摇篮。不管这话是真是假，布鲁克林名人辈出，当地的人物、名胜和传说启发产生的电影、电视和书本对美国文化贡献良多。如NBA球星迈克尔·乔丹、好莱坞电影名导伍迪·艾伦、拳王泰森、脱口秀名嘴拉里·金等都是在这儿长大的。

③draft asset: 选秀资产

④fork over: 付出

⑤bounty: 奖励金

That is an enormous amount of draft equity. Enormous. I don't care how good the team is now, or how good it projects to be in 2023, dealing that many unprotected draft assets that far into the future is a giant risk. It can ruin your franchise for years. If you don't win at least one championship, the trade can go down as a bust--even if you win 60 games a bunch of times, and breach the inner circle of contenders every year.

那是大量的选秀权。巨大。我不在乎团队现在的实力如何，或者它预计在2023年如何，在未来很长的时间内处理这么多不受保护的选秀权都是巨大的风险。它可能会毁掉球队多年。如果你没有赢得至少一个总冠军，那么交易可能会像大萧条一样下滑，即使您多次赢得60场比赛，并且每年都打败很多竞争者。

①draft equity: 选秀权

②project to: 预计

③go down as a bust: 像大萧条一样失败

④a bunch of times: 很多次

⑤breach: 打破

⑥inner circle: 核心集团

That draft equity is a strong return for the Rockets. Is it stronger than Ben Simmons by himself? To be clear, I don't know precisely what the Rockets and Philadelphia 76ers discussed, what the Sixers offered, or whether they even made an ironclad offer in the end. Reconstructing trade talks in the moment is maddening. Maybe one team, or both, got too cute haggling over whatever young players and/or draft picks Philadelphia might attach to Simmons. I feel confident saying this: The Rockets could have had Ben Simmons if they wanted him. They apparently decided they preferred the mother lode of picks from Brooklyn. Maybe they got greedy in negotiations with Philly.

选秀权对火箭队来说是一笔可观的回报。它比西蒙斯更值吗？明确地说，我不确切知道火箭队和76人队讨论了什么，76人队提供了什么筹码，或者最后他们是否提出了不可改变的筹码。目前重建交易谈判令人发狂。也许一支球队，或者两者都对费城可能会对西蒙斯附加的任何年轻球员或选秀权的讨论过于想要占到便宜。我坚信如果火箭想要得到西蒙斯，他们能拥有西蒙斯。他们显然更喜欢布鲁克林的选秀权。也有可能他们在与费城的谈判中很贪婪。

①ironclad/ˈaɪənklæd/: 不可改变的

②reconstruct: 重建

③maddening: 令人发狂的

④cute: 聪明的

⑤haggle/ˈhæɡl/ over: 讨价还价

⑥mother lode: a principal source or supply

Back to the Nets. They also gave up three rotation players, including a rising rim protector and ferocious rim runner in Jarrett Allen. (The Cleveland Cavaliers are an undisputed winner for turning a lousy Milwaukee Bucks first-round pick into Allen, even if they already have so many centers that they are playing Dean Wade--look him up--at shooting guard in spot minutes.)

说回篮网，他们还放弃了三名轮换球员，包括一名在上升期的篮筐保护者阿伦。（克利夫兰骑士队无疑是赢家，因为他们用靠后的雄鹿队的首轮选秀权得到了阿伦，即使他们已经拥有如此多的中锋，他们正让韦德打得分卫。

①rim protector: 护框球员

②ferocious/fəˈrəʊʃəs/: 凶猛的

③rim runner: A rim runner is a player who gets to the rim quickly and early in transition or who trails for an open pass on their way to the rim in transition.

④lousy/ˈlaʊzi/: 非常糟的

From the moment the Nets acquired Irving and Durant, they faced an existential dilemma many championship hopefuls have navigated in many different ways: depth or a third star, Big 2 or Big 3?

从篮网得到欧文和杜兰特的那一刻起，他们就面临着一个许多冠军争夺者以许多不同的方式进行了探索的问题：阵容深度还是第三个超巨，双星还是三巨头？

①existential/ˌeɡzɪˈstenʃl/: 存在的

It is the question that keeps GMs up at night--makes them queasy. There is no universal answer. If your Big 2 are Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, or Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, perhaps you roll with a deeper and more flexible roster behind two top-five overall players.

这个问题使总经理们无法入夜，使他们感到不安。这没有普遍的答案。如果你的双星是奥胖和科比，或者乔丹和皮蓬，也许你会在两名前五球员之后选择更深、更灵活的阵容。

①keep up at night: 让…夜不能寐

②GM: 总经理(general manager)

③queasy/ˈkwiːzi/: 不稳定的

Harden redefined the boundaries of basketball in Houston. He wasn't the most enjoyable player to watch, but the strategic implications of his game made him among the most interesting. And playing his way, the Rockets in 2018 came within a whisker of derailing the Golden State Warriors dynasty and maybe winning it all.

哈登在休斯顿重新定义了篮球。他的球风并不赏心悦目，但他对比赛的影响力无与伦比。他通过自己的方式，18年的火箭几乎要击败那难以想象的金州勇士队。

①strategic implication: 战略意义

②whisker/ˈwɪskə(r)/: 几乎要做

③derailing/dɪˈreɪlɪŋ/: 打乱

But they didn't, and both the Rockets and Harden disappointed in several other postseasons--including in falling flat on their faces against the Warriors in 2019 (with Durant injured late in Game 5 and the deciding Game 6) and against the Los Angeles Lakers last season. The Nets provide his latest chance, and maybe his last, to write a meaningful postseason story.

但是他们还是失败了，火箭和哈登在其他几个季后赛中都感到失望，包括在19年对阵勇士队时表现平平（杜兰特在第五场比赛和决定性的第六场比赛中受伤）以及对阵上赛季的湖人。网队提供了他最近的机会，也许是他最后的机会，来撰写非凡的季后赛故事。

①postseason: 季后赛

②fall flat: 失败

This team can win it all. The Nets pre-Harden had a chance to win it all too, though that was contingent on Irving being present and at full throttle. Brooklyn improved its championship odds on Wednesday. If the Nets did so as much as the FiveThirtyEight system projects--by almost 15 percentage points--almost any price would have been worth it.

这支球队可以赢得一切。哈登来之前的篮网也有机会赢得全部胜利，尽管这取决于欧文的到来并全力以赴。在周三布鲁克林的冠军赔率提高了。如果网队能做到与FiveThirtyEight系统预测的一样多的事情，将近15个百分点，几乎任何价格都是值得的。

①contingent: 依情况而定的

②at full throttle/ˈθrɒtl/: 以最高速度

③FiveThirtyEight: 亦称作538，是一个专注于民意调查分析、政治、经济与体育的博客。网站于2008年3月7日建立，其名称来源于美国选举人团中选举人的数量。创建初期仅包含一个由创建者纳特·西尔弗撰写的博客和一个民调采集工具。2010年8月，博客成为了纽约时报网站中的一个特色栏目，当时亦被称为“FiveThirtyEight：纳特· 西尔弗的政治微积分”。

I'm skeptical they boosted their title odds that much. If that skepticism proves right, they overpaid. If they win a title, it doesn't matter. If they don't, it hurts. That's the standard now, even with all the luck and health variables that go into any title run: championship or failure. And if it really goes bust, the downside potential is disastrous.

我对他们增加了冠军赔率表示怀疑。如果这种怀疑被证明是正确的，那么他们就会付出高昂的代价。如果他们赢得了冠军，那没关系。如果他们失败了，那就是巨大损失。这就是现在的标准，即使所有运气和健康变量都算入冠军进程中：冠军或失败。如果真的失败，那么下跌的潜力将是灾难性的。

①skepticism/ˈskeptɪsɪzəm/: 怀疑的态度

②overpaid: 付出过多的

③variables: 变量

④go bust: 失败

I heard a lot of chortling from team executives and agents about the Nets going all-in for a season with no fans and constant virus-related roster disruption: Are we really going to care who wins the title this year? Won't there be an asterisk?

我听到很多球队高管和经纪人因为网队在一个没有球迷和与充斥着和病毒有关的不断变化的缺席名单的赛季中梭哈，而哈哈大笑。我们真的要关心今年谁赢得冠军吗？不会有特殊情况吗？

①chortling/ˈtʃɔːtlɪŋ/: 哈哈大笑

②roster disruption: 缺席名单

③asterisk/ˈæstərɪsk/: 星号

I get that criticism, but don't really buy it. For one, we don't know what the landscape will look like when the playoffs start. Will players be vaccinated? Will the league hold at least the last two rounds in a bubble?

我收到了批评，但并不同意。首先，我们不知道季后赛开始时的景象。球员会接种疫苗吗？联盟会在园区中进行至少最后两轮比赛吗？

①vaccinate/ˈvæksɪneɪt/: 接种疫苗

②in a bubble: 在隔离区

Besides, the Nets already went all-in when they handed over their team and their culture to Irving and Durant. Are they supposed to stop now because of a pandemic no one predicted (at least on this specific timeline) and that impacts everyone? The NBA isproceeding. They should too.

此外，当网队将他们的球队和他们的文化交给欧文和杜兰特时，他们已经孤注一掷。他们是否应该因为没有人能预测的可能影响所有人的疫情而立即停止（至少在这个特殊的时间上）？NBA正在进行。他们也是。

①hand over: 交出

②pandemic: 疫情

③proceed：继续进行

They cast their lot with Harden, trading almost their whole future to add him to the Irving-Durant duo. This isn't the Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett deal again. Those guys were old. Harden is squarely in his prime. The stakes, though, are the same. For some teams, winning 50 games and making the second round is fine. The Nets aren't one of those teams anymore. When you make a deal like this, it's to win everything.

他们将命运与哈登牢牢捆绑，交易了几乎整个未来，将他加入了欧杜二人组。这不是皮尔斯、加内特交易的重现。他们太老了。哈登正处于巅峰时期。赌注是一样的。对于某些球队来说，赢得50场比赛并进入第二轮是很好的。网队不再是这些球队之一。当您做出这样的交易时，那就是赢得一切。

①lot: 命运

②duo: 二人组

③squarely/ˈskweəli/: 正当地

④stakes: 风险

Author: Zach Lowe

Translation：Fat J

Producer：Fat J