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Fox Sports Article; Damm.... No love for Smith
Topic Started: Jul 5 2007, 04:55 PM (666 Views)
Cyclonus
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http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6993092


Smith, the Orlando general manager, must think he "won" this year's free-agent sweepstakes. After all, he signed Rashard Lewis, the biggest name on the market. But Smith might regret that — history has shown that only a few players are worthy of maximum-salary contracts.

Lewis is a wonderful talent, and he is only 27. But he has never earned All-NBA or All-Defense honors in his eight seasons. He is an All-Star, but not an elite one. There is no doubt that he makes Orlando better, but at this salary, he needs to lift the Magic to championship contender. Lewis' signing severely limits Orlando's ability to dip into the 2008 free-agent pool, one of the deepest ever.

But hey, at least that deal makes some sense. That is more than we can say for one of the dumbest decisions in recent NBA history: Smith withdrawing his qualifying offer to Darko Milicic, turning Milicic from a restricted free agent into an unrestricted free agent.

Orlando did not have the money to sign Milicic and Lewis. But Milicic, despite being turned into a national punchline, is a young 7-footer with lots of talent. The Magic could have worked a sign-and-trade, and Smith didn't even try.There was absolutely no benefit to what he did. He might as well hold up a sign at the Lewis press conference that reads, "We landed Rashard and I STILL have no idea what I'm doing!"

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Ben Q Rock
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3QC
Yikes. They really let him have it. :/
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True Magic
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The Franchise
I don't think Otis is doing much wrong at this point. He's been crucial in turning this team around and reloading it with young, emerging talent. What else do ya want from the guy?
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Ben Q Rock
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Letting Darko walk away means that we traded Kelvin Cato's contract and a first-round draft pick for Carlos Arroyo. Doesn't seem like such a savvy deal now.
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True Magic
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Ben Q Rock
Jul. 5 2007 06:15 PM
Letting Darko walk away means that we traded Kelvin Cato's contract and a first-round draft pick for Carlos Arroyo. Doesn't seem like such a savvy deal now.

That is true, a once sick trade turns bad. At least we're getting Rashard. :D
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magiclive
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This is the opinion of ONE writer. He's no expert on anything. If you are going to get a player like Rashard on your team, you have to pay that kind of money. That's just the way it is now. You can be cheap like the Clippers were for many years and not pay players the amount it takes to keep them, but then you just won't get any free agents.

I don't know how much money we would have left over for 2008 because we are giving Dwight an extension and possibly resigning Milicic. So who exactly were we going to get in free agency next year with such little money? Duncan? Arenas? Give me a break. This writer is clueless.
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magiclive
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True Magic
Jul. 5 2007 05:11 PM
I don't think Otis is doing much wrong at this point. He's been crucial in turning this team around and reloading it with young, emerging talent. What else do ya want from the guy?

You can't please everyone.

Otis, just keep doing what you're doing. I have no complaints so far and I usually like to complain about something with this team.
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gomagic33
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Mr. Anderson
The only complaint I have with Otis is not calling Darko or his agent. But then again, there must be something else that the press did not know about that explains the reason for the non-call.

Otis Smith is doing a great job so far in my book.
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True Magic
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gomagic33
Jul. 5 2007 07:51 PM
The only complaint I have with Otis is not calling Darko or his agent. But then again, there must be something else that the press did not know about that explains the reason for the non-call.

Otis Smith is doing a great job so far in my book.

In a way I don't blame him, Darko's agent is a complete jagoff.
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The Archduke
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Sixth Man
Whatever. That writer is way off-base. I get so tired of hearing about Darko's talents and how high his ceiling is. The dude hasn't shown ANYTHING consistent in his offensive game. He looks lost all the time. Could he end up being great? Yeah, the sky's the limit. But too often, those guys with high ceilings never come CLOSE to what they could be.
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Shareef
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Sixth Man
If i didn't know any better I would think that i wrote that article but i wouldn't be that hash on Oits because I could understand the move.
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Black and Blue
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Have You Hugged Your Van Gundy Today?
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Otis' moves are all so fresh and he is dealing with so many young players that it is impossible to declare anything a home run or failure yet.

In my opinion Otis has done spectacular, and I am quite sure there are unsaid things in the Darko case. Him demanding 10 mil could be a big one, as well as possible veiled threats that he would take his time in negotiations so the Magic might miss out on Rashard.
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ec23456
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It's Simple Smith had to let Darko go to sign Lewis what don't you guys understand??? No problem here on that subject because Lewis wanted $15 Mil and we only had $13 Mil of Grant Hills Expiring Contact available so we let Darko go...SO 1 all star vs. 1 so so center - I choose the allstar everytime!
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Black and Blue
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We still have Darko's bird rights, so while he can sign anywhere he also will make the most money here probably. We lost our hold on him but it will kill him to turn his back on more money in Orlando.
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True Magic
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The Franchise
Well, I believe the Bucks, Bobcats, and Grizzlies are the only teams that can pay him what he wants. Whatever, the guy is far from being worth 10M per season.

Have fun playing on crappy teams.
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