Season Wrapup with GM Otis Smith

Less than 24 hours after the Orlando Magic's season came to a close, General Manager Otis Smith sat down with each player for their exit interviews. After wrapping up his meetings, Smith met with the media to discuss the season, free agency, the draft and the areas the team needs to address in the off-season. Here's what Smith had to say:

On if signing Milicic is first on the timeline for the summer…
“Yeah, I think you have to. Darko’s important to us so we’d like to get Darko done as soon as we possibly can, before we can move on anyplace else. Having Darko, as a part of our franchise, playing alongside Dwight is big for us. I don’t think we can afford to lose a young big guy. Now, with that said, we still have to go through the process of getting the contract done and we necessarily can’t do that until July 1. But, we want him on our team. But that has to be the first thing, the first piece coming in. As you well know, there’s a cap hold there that kind of prevents you from doing anything else. Unless you renounce. And if you renounce you can’t sign him for another 60 days, so that’s a little sticky too.”

On if he has a specific number in mind for Milicic…
“Sure. Sure, I have a number in mind, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it works out that way. We’d like to keep him. How we get a deal done, I think that’s on both of us, what’s in both our best interests. Mark Cornstein, Darko and the Orlando Magic, I think we have a pretty good relationship so to speak. So it’s an honest and fair deal and both people win.”

On if he was impressed with Milicic’s performance in the playoffs…
“Well as I tell Brian all the time, I’m a little less interested in one game, I’m a little more interested in several games. I think we still have to work on who Darko is. We still have to get a little more consistency from Darko. Having said that, I could say that about every other guy on our roster.”

On if there was a point in the season he knew he wanted Milicic back…
“I think at the deadline when all the teams were looking for him. No, I think we always kind of knew we were going to get Darko back, it wasn’t a matter of do we want him back. We were still trying to figure out who he was and wasn’t, which is why we didn’t give him the extension last year. I think we have a better idea, and a better idea of how the two of those guys work together, but we still have some work to do.”

On what Grant Hill’s going to do…
“I still think it’s uncertain. I still think it’s uncertain to him and as I said before, if Grant still wants to play here, if he wants to play period, I don’t know if he’s playing any other place but here. That’s the first hurdle, the second hurdle is if he wants to play here then we’ve got a spot for him. I don’t think you lose by having a Grant Hill on your roster.”

On if Hill will have a different role if he returns…
“Well I think you have to look at his role, I don’t think you can log 37 minutes a night, I think you’re asking a little bit much for a guy who has been through as much as he has. So we have to adjust his role a little bit more, but I think you have to adjust a few peoples roles, and that would be one of them. I’m fifty-fifty. It’s go anywhere, any day. I think some days he wants to play and I think some days depending on what his body is saying – I know he gets out of bed worse than I get out of bed in the morning – then some of those days it’s kind of saying, you know I am done with this. But, on the days you get out of bed and after you take the fourth step you’ve got a little bit of spring in it, I can see where you say OK, I can do this again. I think he likes being around this team, these guys in that locker room under this circumstance. Young up-and-coming team, that is going in the right direction, that needs to continually improve, I think he likes the circumstances.”

On if a priority this summer is a getting a scorer…
“Well I think you have to have somebody that can score the ball. I think we need a little bit more toughness to this team. But I think scoring is kind of a little bit more of a priority, somebody that can put the ball in the basket, consistently. When we need a bucket, they can go get one. What that looks like, how do we go out and get it, those are your next questions. And there’s some creative financing on the money end and using the assets that we have on the other end, what that’ll look like, I’m not 100 percent sure.”

On if this summer will be quiet like last summer…
“I don’t think that it will be as uneventful as last summer. We have several things that’s in the making that we have to do, you know Darko, and we do have a little bit of room that we could play with to add a piece, a player here and there. We have to get better in that area. There’s the pending extensions of Mr. Howard and Mr. Nelson that’s also on the books, so there’s some things we’re going to have to take a strong look at. It won’t be uneventful as last summer, that’s for sure.”

On if the roster will look radically different…
“I don’t know that, I don’t know that right now. I think we have to take what we have as a club, as assets, and use those assets to continue to make the team better. If that means a move, that may mean the players and pieces have to move. That means using the draft as a vehicle to get something done. But I can’t answer you specifically if a guy is here or there if he’ll be here tomorrow, I’m not sure about that.”

On if it’s all about money or if it’s also about playing roles…
“Some guys might, but at the end of the day don’t kid yourself. Brian might want to play for Miami, but Joel represents him and he’s trying to get as much as he possibly can for him, regardless of what Brian is saying. It’s a business, and it’s going to be run as such. So with that said, I can’t. Where a guy goes most of the time is finances, most of the time. Sometimes it’s not with a case, like Alonzo Mourning who stayed in Miami, it’s not. It’s rare cases where that does happen.”

On if finances will be a situation with Grant Hill…
“Yeah it can, but I don’t think so. He’s our own unrestricted free agent. We can sign him if we want to. I’m not really concerned with finances as it relates to Grant, I’m more concerned about is Grant mentally where he wants to be on the floor. Does he want to be there for the next season? Not finances.”

On if the team would benefit from some constructive anger…
“We’re a nice basketball team. We are a very good, young basketball team. But, the two things I said at the beginning of the season that kept me awake in the summer are still the two things that kept me awake at this point and time. That is, leadership and where does it come from? And, does this team like each other too much? Meaning that it doesn’t necessarily need to be a fighter, but we just got to be honest with you. Like, if Joel who is my colleague, and we work together, today was doing something wrong that’s not helping the club, I have to tell him. That’s the way the relationship has to work and it has to be trust. It’s a trust thing. I have to understand that you’re going to hit me upside my head and I’m going to keep coming back. That’s what young teams sometimes have to understand.”

On if someone from the outside could come in and immediately take that role…
“Yeah, sure. I don’t think that’s an issue. I think you come in and when you walk in the door depending on who you are, your play dictates that immediately. It automatically goes that way. The other part of it depends on who you are, and what kind of character that player has.”

On if he’s evaluating the head coach…
“As I said, I think you have to look at everything. Brian and I sit down and talk like I talk with every other guy on the team, I think you have to evaluate everything. I am being evaluated at this time so I’m sure I’ll have my sit down with Bob (Vander Weide) at some point and time in the future. I don’t anticipate it (Brian Hill returning) being an issue. I don’t anticipate it being an issue, I see him coming back.”

On if he can sign Milicic and a marquee player…
“We’ll have to do some creative finances. As I was saying we’ll have to get creative with room and our pieces that you have to get guys in. You can’t just assume you’ll get guys in at a number. Not necessarily (does he have to use expiring contracts). I can use the room and some things to trade into. So, I can sign a free agent guy in conjunction with a player so the room acts as a player, so I can use another piece.”

On Milicic being the first priority…
“That’s the first thing you have to concern yourself with. I know it, Cornstein knows it – which may slow it down by the way. But that’s the first thing to take care of.”

On if he’ll make an offer on July 1 or see what the market is…
“I think you can make him an offer right there and let it be done and out of the way or you can sit and let the market dictate. But you may lose a little bit of leverage in that you’re trying to move it fast, you may. But I’m not telling you anything that Marc doesn’t know, we’re not trading industry secrets.”

On if Milicic’s playoff performance helped him decide to keep Milicic…
“The playoffs for me start in November. So, I need for every guy to understand that they need to play November through April. And so, I think he had a good four games, but that doesn’t make a season. So you still have to do the right thing by our team, do the right thing by him. So I’m not going to say it sealed the deal.”

On if the playoff series changed his opinion of the point guard position…
“No, not necessarily. I know we need to get better. I think we need to do a better job. We had what, 22 turns (turnovers)? He (Jameer Nelson) didn’t have 22. We averaged 22 turns. We have to do better. Let’s throw the turnovers out the window. Let’s concentrate on free throws. We’ve got to do better. Let’s not kid ourselves. We didn’t play particularly well going into the playoffs. We played seven or eight games where we played OK, but don’t get out of hand. With a young basketball team, we almost played the same way on the 18 (of April) against the Heat that we played on the 21 (of April) against the Pistons in the playoff series. You’ve got to learn from those things.”

On if the team’s offensive philosophy will be different next year…
“I think you have to look at that, look at what we’re doing there. Are we getting the best out of our guys? Is the offensive structure getting the best out of our guys? I think you have to evaluate that. I think that’s one of Brian’s evaluations, are we getting the most out of each player?”

On if he expects Dwight Howard to come back with an expanded game…
“If he shoots free throws better, let’s not kid yourself he missed 600 and something free throws, he averaged 17 – he could’ve average 20. If he’s going to be the guy, the guy has to make free throws at a better clip than he did. He has to also get better at understanding the double team, scoring the ball, how he scores the ball, he has to score it in different ways, he has to get better in other areas, defensively too.”

On hiring a free throw coach…
“I think it’s something we look at, I don’t think that’s that hard of a question. We’re already in the process of talking to a few people. I think it’s something we look at.”

On if there’s an overall summer program for Howard…
“It (Team USA) doesn’t necessarily conflict with it, it just takes a big chunk of work time out of it. So he has to be creative and get work in as it relates to getting better. I think he understands that he has to get better, he wants to get better and now he has to put in the time which has never been a problem for him to put in the time, so I’m not overly concerned.”

On how different the team will look by October 1…
“There’s a couple pieces, but I don’t think it’s anything major. I don’t think we’re that far away. We won 40 games, which is an improvement of four from last year, not saying that was a great season. I’m just saying we thought we had a good season, I thought we could have done better. But by any stretch of the imagination, we’ll be different.”

On if Hill’s decision might not be made until training camp…
“I don’t see it doing that. I actually see him making a decision pretty quickly after he gets some time away. Time away is the first thing. And then he needs to evaluate his body and more than anything else his body is going to dictate what he’s going to do. And then from there the Mrs., I think she’s going to have a little say in the matter.”

On if the free agent market has what he wants…
“Maybe, I can only say maybe. I’m not sure. I think the free agent market changes a little July 1.”

On a sign-and-trade with Milicic…
“A 21-year-old, seven-foot big. How many of those are floating around? His best basketball, as far as I’m concerned is still ahead of him. Like Dwight’s best basketball is still ahead of him. It would be like giving up on a young up-and-coming player. If you had a draft tomorrow, and he was on the board, would you not draft him? I like Darko, I think Darko has a future with the Orlando Magic. If I was going to do something with Darko, I may have done it at the deadline. But, I see those two big dudes out there together sometimes, and it’s scary how good they could be. I’d like to have both of those big dudes, for a long time.”

On Nelson’s and Howard’s extensions…
“I think I’ll have a conversation with both of those guys’ representation and we’ll see where we go from there. We just have the conversation and see where it goes. If we come up with a number that works for both we do it, and if we don’t we don’t.”

On the draft…
“I don’t know. It depends on where we are with the rest of our roster and what’s going on there. And it depends on, you still have an opportunity to move up in the draft if you so choose to move up in the draft. But the problem with moving up in the draft is it takes away roster spots and it takes away cap room because that guy would use up a little bit of cap room. So you have to be creative there so there’s a lot of things to think about and not think about. We have three picks in the second round this year – ours, Cleveland’s and Sacramento’s. So, we can be creative with those, and deal them.”

On the emotion at the end of this season versus last year…
“Hungry. Very hungry. A lot of guys are very disappointed in the way we finished. I think I told Brian a while back that it didn’t matter who we played in the playoffs, but I needed the experience in the playoffs. You don’t get experience in the playoffs without going to the playoffs. And you’ve got to know what it’s about. And I think all of our guys are disappointed with the way our season ended. With that said, there’s more meat on the bone and more things we can accomplish as a franchise. We’re moving in the right direction. We’ve got guys with the right kind of edge; they understand they need to put in the time. The Playoffs kind of start today for these guys.”