Heck, I am of the belief that Bobby V. should have granted Otis a lifetime deal back in February of 2006 when Otis, somehow, dumped the mercurial Steve Francis and his gross contract on Isiah Thomas's doorstep. That deal, to me, should have earned Otis the Executive of the Year Award for the lifetime of Francis's contract.
Actually, Otis is being rewarded for a full body of work. He's built a nucleus of young, talented and winning basketball players here in Orlando. He's also being rewarded for playing a major part in altering the culture of this franchise. You sit down and talk with Otis and I guarantee you not a sentence goes by without him uttering the word "championship". This franchise is pointed upward thanks in large part to O!
Would Otis and Dave like a do-over in the drafting of Fran Vazquez in 2005? Sure. Was JJ Redick the pick in 2006? That's up for debate, though I am not willing to give up on JJ making an impact on this team just yet. The point is that I do not know of any perfect NBA execs...
Red Auerbach, the patriarch of the Boston Celtics, built that franchise on the strength of great drafts and shrewd trades. However, even Red had his share of blemishes. The ole Celtic fan in me still has a hard time forgiving the late and great Red Head for trading Danny Ainge to Sacramento for Ed Pinckney and Joe Kleine in 1989.
Speaking of Ainge, the current GM in Boston, Celtic fans were ready to run him outta Beantown on 'The T' after his C's recorded a scant 24 wins in 2006-2007. Yet, Ainge gets a little help from his friend Kevin McHale in trading for KG and all of a sudden the guy's a genius and the NBA's Executive of the Year.
Look at Mitch Kupchak in Los Angeles. Last May, after winning 42 regular season games and being eliminated from round one by Phoenix, Kobe Bryant demanded that his old buddy Jerry West take over for the embattled Kupchak. Kobe had one foot in Chicago in October. Yet, a few months later, Kupchak robs Memphis blind in getting Pau Gasol. Now, Kobe and Laker fans are smitten with ole Mitch as his Lakers go into the Finals series with Ainge's Celtics.
Go on down the line...Detroit's Joe Dumars, considered one of the best bosses in the NBA, is not without blemish. Joe would love a mulligan after drafting Darko Milicic in 2003 ahead of guys like Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh.
The point is that in this fickle business of NBA basketball, everybody makes mistakes. The key to NBA front office longevity, though, is to make sure that the list of positives far outweighs the list of negatives.
Otis Smith has done just that.
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