Magic Exit Interviews: Otis Smith Quotes
General Manager Otis Smith
On his reaction to Matt Barnes opting out of his contract:
“You guys think we have that knee jerk reaction too because we win or lose, but I think most of us in this business plan our season accordingly and plan the next season accordingly and you anticipate certain things. Am I shocked that Matt is opting out? Probably no more shocked than you are, so no. But it is something that we will address as we move forward throughout the summer.”
On what kind of process he will go through to improve the team in the offseason:
“I think you are in the process now, I don’t think you’re not in the process. You’re always in the process of trying to get better, so you’re going to adjust certain things but the process really never stops to be real honest with you. You’re always trying to get your team better. With that said, we are always evaluating our roster, always trying to get better, always trying to get a team on the floor that gives us the best opportunity to win a title.”
On if he deems the season a success:
“I don’t really know how to do that. I wish I could sit here and tell you guys that we had a great season, we won 59 games, we did x, x and x, but I can’t. I think our organization and our franchise is not that team any more. We’re not the fun Orlando Magic where we throw 15 guys out there and we’ll just say, ‘let’s see where it lands.’ That’s not us. Our objective going into the season remained the same, as I told our guys this morning. We had a good season, but it ended the same way the past three seasons ended – we failed. So we have to go back to the drawing board and get better.”
On if he anticipates this summer being crazier than usual with the big-name free agents available:: “I don’t think it’s going to be any crazier – resources kind of control the end of the day, and there’s only a few teams that have resources to do major things. You have some bigger free agents that they have an opportunity to do whatever. I think every summer is interesting, because even the teams that are going to try to get better are going to try to get better in their own way. They aren’t necessarily going to blow up the moon. We’re not. We’re not a team that’s that far away, so I can’t sit there and say, ‘yeah, we’re going to make all these drastic changes, because we’re miles away.’ We’re not miles away, we’re not in the bottom third of the league. We’re at the top of our league. And with that said, we have to do things diligently and with the understanding of the aspect that we’re putting a team/puzzle together, and with that said, every piece is going to have to fit.”
On his reaction to Matt Barnes opting out of his contract:
“You guys think we have that knee jerk reaction too because we win or lose, but I think most of us in this business plan our season accordingly and plan the next season accordingly and you anticipate certain things. Am I shocked that Matt is opting out? Probably no more shocked than you are, so no. But it is something that we will address as we move forward throughout the summer.”
On what kind of process he will go through to improve the team in the offseason:
“I think you are in the process now, I don’t think you’re not in the process. You’re always in the process of trying to get better, so you’re going to adjust certain things but the process really never stops to be real honest with you. You’re always trying to get your team better. With that said, we are always evaluating our roster, always trying to get better, always trying to get a team on the floor that gives us the best opportunity to win a title.”
On if he deems the season a success:
“I don’t really know how to do that. I wish I could sit here and tell you guys that we had a great season, we won 59 games, we did x, x and x, but I can’t. I think our organization and our franchise is not that team any more. We’re not the fun Orlando Magic where we throw 15 guys out there and we’ll just say, ‘let’s see where it lands.’ That’s not us. Our objective going into the season remained the same, as I told our guys this morning. We had a good season, but it ended the same way the past three seasons ended – we failed. So we have to go back to the drawing board and get better.”
On if he anticipates this summer being crazier than usual with the big-name free agents available:: “I don’t think it’s going to be any crazier – resources kind of control the end of the day, and there’s only a few teams that have resources to do major things. You have some bigger free agents that they have an opportunity to do whatever. I think every summer is interesting, because even the teams that are going to try to get better are going to try to get better in their own way. They aren’t necessarily going to blow up the moon. We’re not. We’re not a team that’s that far away, so I can’t sit there and say, ‘yeah, we’re going to make all these drastic changes, because we’re miles away.’ We’re not miles away, we’re not in the bottom third of the league. We’re at the top of our league. And with that said, we have to do things diligently and with the understanding of the aspect that we’re putting a team/puzzle together, and with that said, every piece is going to have to fit.”
