khandor’s sports blog

Yet another reason to like the job which Otis Smith [GM] has done, thus far?

NBA Countdown: No. 8 Orlando Magic
Reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in 14 years and second in franchise history was a wonderful accomplishment for the Orlando Magic-but there was no guarantee a championship would follow.The Magic will go into the 2009-10 season determined to defend their Eastern Conference title but looking different than when they won it. Yes, they still have All-Star center Dwight Howard as their foundation and high-priced Rashard Lewis (who’s suspended the first 10 games of the season after testing positive for an elevated testosterone level) shooting 3-pointers, but the Magic changed their late-game, go-to guy by switching from Turkoglu to Carter.

It’s why general manager Otis Smith didn’t take any bows, or even take the time to catch his breath.

And it’s also why he made one of the boldest moves of the summer, changing his carefully crafted team chemistry by trading for All-Star Vince Carter and letting go of free agent Hedo Turkoglu, a key player in Orlando’s recent rise.

“You can’t stand still in this league,” Smith said. “If you do, you’ll be going backward.”

The Magic also added free agents in power forward Brandon Bass from Dallas and small forward Matt Barnes of Phoenix. They even added point guard Jason Williams, who last played during 2007-08 with the Heat. Surprisingly, they kept backup center Marcin Gortat by matching the offer sheet Dallas gave him.

With the Celtics adding Rasheed Wallace and the Cavaliers trading for Shaquille O’Neal, the Magic tried to keep pace with the other serious contenders in the East.

“There are less than seven teams every year that really are trying to win a championship in our league,” Smith said. “Those three (in the East) are trying to win now, as opposed to saying ‘We’re OK where we are. Let’s stay the status quo.’”

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Otis Smith was hired by the Magic on May 6, 2006.

This is what the team’s roster looked like on that day:

Augmon, Stacey F
Battie, Tony PF-C
Cato, Kelvin C
Diener, Travis PG
Dooling, Keyon G
Francis, Steve G
Garrity, Pat PF
Hill, Grant G-F
Howard, Dwight C
Kasun, Mario C
Morris, Terence PF
Nelson, Jameer PG
Outlaw, Bo PF
Stevenson, DeShawn G
Turkoglu, Hedo F

This is what it looks like today, 41 months later:

Almond, Morris G
Anderson, Ryan PF
Barnes, Matt F
Bass, Brandon PF
Carter, Vince G-F
Foyle, Adonal C
Gortat, Marcin C
Howard, Dwight C
Johnson, Anthony PG
Johnson, Linton F
Lewis, Rashard F
Nelson, Jameer PG
Pietrus, Mickael G-F
Redick, JJ G
Williams, Jason PG

This is Orlando’s record of performance, since that date:

2008-2009
59-23/.720, 1st Atlantic, 3rd Eastern Conference, NBA Finalist 
2007-2008
52-30/.634, 1st Atlantic, 3rd Eastern Conference, Lost 2nd Rd
2006-2007
40-42/.488, 3rd Atlantic, 8th Eastern Conference, Lost 1st Rd

This was their record of performance the season before Smith arrived:

2005-2006
36-46/.439, 3rd Atlantic, 10th Eastern Conference, No Playoffs

3 full seasons into his tenure with the Magic, Otis Smith should be considered as one of the best GM’s in the NBA.

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By way of comparison, for the benefit of Raptors fans, this is what Toronto has accomplished under the direction of Bryan Colangelo [2-time NBA EOTY award recipient] during this same time-frame:

2005-2006 Roster [Feb 28 2006]
Araujo, Rafael PF
Bonner, Matt PF
Bosh, Chris PF-C
Calderon, Jose PG
Davis, Antonio PF-C
Graham, Joey F
James, Mike PG
Martin, Darrick PG
Peterson, Morris G-F
Sow, Pape PF
Villanueva, Charlie F
Williams, Eric G-F
Woods, Loren C

2009-2010, Current Roster
Banks, Marcus G
Bargnani, Andrea C
Belinelli, Marco G-F
Bosh, Chris PF-C
Calderon, Jose PG
DeRozan, Demar G-F
Douby, Quincy G
Evans, Reggie PF
Jack, Jarrett G
Johnson, Amir PF
Nesterovic, Rasho PF-C
O’Bryant, Patrick C
Turkoglu, Hedo F
Weems, Sonny G-F
Wright, Antoine G-F

Year #1-3
2008-2009
33-49/.402, 4th Atlantic, 13th Eastern Conference, No Playoffs
2007-2008
41-41/.500, 2nd Atlantic, 6th Eastern Conference, Lost 1st Rd
2006-2007
47-35/.573, 1st Atlantic, 3rd Eastern Conference, Lost 1st Rd

Year Prior
2005-2006
27-55/.329, 4th Atlantic, 1st Eastern Conference, No Playoffs

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In the NBA, the cold harsh reality is that there are only 2 distinct tiers of teams:

Tier 1
Those few that are actually trying to win the League Championship.

Tier 2
Everybody else.

Much R.E.S.P.E.C.T. to Otis Smith for “cutting to the chase” and improving the Orlando Magic each season, thus far.

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Came across this old article earlier today … which just happens to speak to this issue while profiling an individual like Carroll Dawson who fits nicely into this category of executive in the history of this league. Thought others who may not have seen it yet might enjoy reading it for themselves.

[once you click on the link below scroll down to page 10]

Dawson winding down memorable career
“Everyone knew you trade Steve Francis for Tracy McGrady, because you’re trying to get a star,” said Van Gundy. “It’s how you surround those guys. Team building is much more difficult.”

“We’ve always been risk takers,” said Dawson. “We got criticized highly for (drafting Yao Ming). We got killed for taking Robert Horry (over USC’s Harold Miner).”

Van Gundy appreciated working with someone who had sat in his position. “Having coached, he has an idea how emotionally challenging it is,” Van Gundy said. “You may come in the office and want to blow off steam and get rid of everybody. He’s very even keeled.”

The switch from working with Rudy T. to JVG meant a major change for Dawson. He and Tomjanovich were extremely close. “During the season, I’m down here, he’s up there,” said Van Gundy, who has an office inside the Rockets locker room. “During the season he doesn’t pester you and I don’t go up there every day with a wild trade idea. I’m harder to communicate with because I get more tunnel vision.”

There was a rumor that Dawson and Van Gundy weren’t talking. Van Gundy said that wasn’t true. It was simply a matter of them being more business associates than friends. “There’s a big age difference,” said the 45-year-old Van Gundy. “I think the wives are closer. I’ve never had any communication problem with him because he’s an expert at the art.”

With Yao Ming sidelined, Van Gundy told Dawson the Rockets needed more size. Dawson traded shooting forward Scott Padgett to Memphis for 7-2 Jake Tsakalidis. “I tell him basically what I think we need,” said Van Gundy. “He and his staff do all the heavy lifting. You’re not going to agree on everything. He can disagree with you without being disagreeable. He’s got a great way of diffusing anger and situations.”

Dawson never sought the spotlight. “Everybody likes credit, but he doesn’t seek it,” said Van Gundy. “It’s not about playing guys he traded for, or he signed.”

Dawson considers himself a lucky man. “I’ve had three great jobs in my life and I didn’t have enough sense to apply for any of them,” he said. “I get 10-20 resumes a week from people trying to get a job in the league.” He collected several championship rings, two with the Rockets, four with the Comets, even one from the Dallas Cowboys 1977 Super Bowl champs. He doesn’t wear any of them.

“If I wore a ring, it would be ’94,” he said. “I said, ‘Lord, if we can win it one time, I’ll never ask for anything again.’ “That’s the biggest lie in the world. You want to win it every year.”

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Lots of important lessons there for those who would truly like to learn more about what’s involved with this type of position/individual in the NBA.