FanHouse OtisSmith

LOS ANGELES -- May 3, 2006 was a big day in Orlando Magic history.

Nothing happened.

So what if the Magic media guide says that's when Otis Smith (right) became the team's general manager. The reality of the situation is that the status remained very much quo that day.

Apparently, that was a good thing, too. The result is a very stable front office in Orlando, thank you very much.

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The Larry O'Brien itself is plenty of motivation for the participants in the 2009 Finals. But there will also be a few individual goals driving those involved.

Dwight Howard: Everyone marks Kobe as the NBA's preeminent love-him-or-hate-him player, but D-12 earns a fair amount of vitriol, whether for his lack of refinement in the post, his Shaq II free throw stroke, his alleged faux-choir boy persona or the sentiment that slam dunk stardom has rendered the D.P.O.Y. publicly overrated. Let's just say those Patrick Ewing comparisons (ahem) would disappear with a ring.

Hedo Turkoglu: Like kindred spirit Lamar Odom, Hedo will be a free agent signing his last long-term, high-dollar deal this summer. A marvelous turn which began in Game 7 against Boston could land Hedo near the top of the offseason ledger, above everyone but Carlos Boozer. Turk needs a good Finals series to keep that hope alive, though.

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There is a reason Magic general manager Otis Smith stayed away from the televised Eastern Conference Champion trophy presentation Saturday after his team beat the Cleveland Cavaliers. It's the same reason he declined to put on the cap or slip into the t-shirt proclaiming his team as champions of the East.

That was never his goal.

"It's like low-hanging fruit,'' he said.

Smith built this Magic team intending to win an NBA title, a goal that may have seemed well out of reach when this season began but a very attainable goal today. After their rocky trip to reach the Finals, the Magic don't feel like underdogs anymore. They are going into Game 1 Thursday confident they can win.

Here is why they will win the NBA title:

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ORLANDO -- Magic general manager Otis Smith Thursday sided with Coach Stan Van Gundy, who brushed aside recent criticism of his offensive strategy and essentially chastised star center Dwight Howard going into Game 6 Thurday night against the Boston Celtics.

After a Game 5 loss in Boston on Tuesday, Howard criticized Van Gundy and his play calling, complaining that he wasn't getting the ball enough on offense. Howard hit five of 10 shots for 12 points.

"Dwight has to understand his primary roles and primary importance to this team, are defense and rebounding,'' Van Gundy said Thursday morning after a film session. "It's why he became Defensive Player of the Year. That's what we need from him.''

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NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. Washington Wizards Blog, via Bullets Forever. The Zards are installing a new camera on the baskets at the Verizon Center ... because the current basket cams are too low to capture JaVale McGee in flight! JaVale Cam!

2. NBC Chicago. A tremendous Q&A with two of FreeDarko's writers. The book is out today! (Robo)Cop that!

3. Tim Kawakami. Al Harrington's broken heart bad back has him in bed for two weeks. The Warriors are so weird.

4. Orlando Sentinel. Magic GM Otis Smith on Kings GM Geoff Petrie's eternal quest for Hedo Turkoglu: "Smith said the Kings have been in touch with Orlando since the Magic signed him as a free agent in 2004. He said it has been a while since the Kings made some offers for Turkoglu, and added, laughing, 'They wanted to give us their trash.'" That's bad pool, Otis. Team pride forces me to now blurt out the following: FRAN VASQUEZ JJ REDICK RASHARD LEWIS FOR $200 BILLION. Whew, that felt good.

5. Riverside Press-Enterprise. Phil Jackson on Trevor Ariza: "He's like a ghost out there. Like a shadow. Just all of a sudden he shows on a screen and he's gone. He's a blip and he's away. He runs the court like that."

6. Both Teams Played Hard. It's the 61st edition of the Carnival of the NBA.

While Chauncey Billups and Allen Iverson prepare to take the court with their new teammates tonight for the first time, Antonio McDyess is still stuck in limbo. Andy Miller, who represents both Billups and McDyess, said the odds of McDyess returning for his third stint with the Nuggets was "very, very low to zero."

Despite Denver's initial stance that they wouldn't be open to a buyout (I can't believe anyone fell for that! Oh, wait ...), that's exactly what they're negotiating right now. It hasn't happened yet, but all signs suggest it will in the near future. Once he's a free agent, what does his future hold? Billups said during his introductory press conference that McDyess is "tired of moving," but is it a foregone conclusion that he returns to Detroit?

One thing is clear, if McDyess sits out 30 days and wants to re-sign with the Pistons, they'd love to have him back. And considering Detroit's all-world training staff helped resurrect his career, it might be the best thing for him. If he so chooses to test the waters, though, he'll have no shortage of interested suitors: the Boston Globe cites an NBA source who claims no fewer than 17 teams have inquired about his status.

The Magic improved by 12 games this year to finish with 52 wins, their most since 1996 when Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway carried the team all the way to the NBA Finals. GM Otis Smith deserves a lot of credit for the turnaround, first for bidding against himself to sign Rashard Lewis and then having the foresight of knowing Tony Battie would get suffer a season-ending injury to open up playing time for the soon-to-be Most Improved Player Hedo Turkoglu. For that, he was rewarded with a three-year extension.

Am I being a little harsh? Perhaps, but Smith is obviously riding the coat-tails of Dwight Howard's ascension to superstardom. Sure, Stan Van Gundy turned out to be a nice pick to coach this team, but he's only there because Smith's first choice, Billy Donovan, flaked out. And is anyone really excited about Jameer Nelson's future? Smith gave him a five-year, $35 million contract last summer, but he couldn't even hold down a starting job for all of last year.

Wouldn't a talented young point guard like Rodney Stuckey have been a nice replacement? Well, Smith gave the Pistons Orlando's 2007 first-rounder used to select Stuckey in the Darko Milicic/Carlos Arroyo trade. Darko lasted just a year and a half before leaving town while Magic fans are counting down the days Arroyo's contract comes off the books this summer. And don't even get me started about drafting JJ Redick ...

Smith is hardly the worst GM in the league, but I'm convinced the Magic are where they are despite his efforts, not because of it.

Mark Jackson may be the media's favorite for the Knicks head coaching job, but former Knicks legend and current Magic assistant Patrick Ewing wants to throw his name in the hat. In fact, Ewing is apparently a bit miffed that he hasn't already been contacted. From Alan Hahn of Newsday:

"Obviously I played in New York, I know the area, I know the team, I know the fans, I know everybody, I know the media," the Big Fella said. "So, naturally, I would have loved to interview."

So why not pick up the phone? We're told that Ewing, nor anyone among his representation, has reached out to Donnie Walsh to express said interest.

The campaign started last week in Orlando, however. Magic GM Otis Smith said no one would need permission to contact their assistants. And Stan Van Gundy went out of his way to promote Ewing as someone who should be a candidate for the Knicks job. They're basically giving Patrick all the approval he needs to pursue the job, even in the midst of a playoff run. And . . . ?

"Donnie's wondering why someone hasn't called," said a person with knowledge of the situation.

So should Ewing be blamed for not making a call? I don't think so, because I'm 99% sure Hahn has this completely wrong and that Ewing simply isn't allowed to make contact.

Following up on our Thursday post describing how Sam Presti basically runs the NBA comes the news he tried to get even more for expiring big man Kurt Thomas. John Denton of Florida Today reports Presti tried to squeeze two first-round picks (along with expiring contracts) out of Orlando GM Otis Smith before instead turning to his former employer, the San Antonio Spurs, and doing the deal for just one pick.

There's no ethical problem with that -- Presti can deal with whomever he wants, and it'd be hard to argue he's not acting in the best interest of the future of the franchise considering the heists he's pulled off so far. But... there's little chance San Antonio's single pick (2009) will ever be better than any Orlando pick. The better deal, as far as I can tell, would have been with Orlando.

More surprising for me: Presti didn't repay Orlando's Smith for the inexplicable sixth year the Magic offered Rashard Lewis, which set this whole draft pick bonanza off in the first place. (The Sonics have six first round picks over the next three years, and seven more seconds.) If Smith doesn't offer Shard an extra year, necessitating the sign-and-trade which netted Presti a massive trade exception, then Phoenix never sends two firsts with Kurt to Seattle, and Kurt's not available at the deadline for another first. You'd think, if you were Otis Smith, that all might count for something. Apparently not.

Absurdly talented Rashard Lewis made his first game appearance back in his hometown of Seattle last night. As expected, Dwight Howard the Magic kicked the Sonics in the teeth. Of course, reporters asked Shard about whether he would have stayed in Seattle if they'd make an effort to keep him.

Lewis ... admitted he might have given the Sonics a hometown discount had they simply come to him with an offer.

"It would have been extremely difficult to leave," said Lewis, who ultimately signed with the Magic for $118 million. "It wouldn't even have had to be for $118 million (from the Sonics). If it would have been in the $90-100 million ballpark, it would have been extremely difficult to leave."

How sweet.

It was little secret once Sam Presti shuttled Ray Allen out of town there would be no investing in Shard. And why would you pay so much for a player roughly similar to your new blessed son? There were some theories about how Shard and Kevin Durant could co-exist with the right coach and the right point guard, but it was all beside the point. Clay Bennett was never going to pay luxury tax in Seattle, Presti (from the Spurs family, by the way) was never going to dole out max dollars for a second-tier player, and it's questionable whether Lewis would have taken the discount once Otis Smith came callin' with his $118 million promise. If he thinks $100 million would have been a discount, something tells me his idea of his value and Presti's idea of his value would be incompatible.