Under different circumstances, Orlando's Otis Smith could be running Warriors

December 14, 8:16 PMGolden State Warriors ExaminerMatt Steinmetz

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Otis Smith: Orlando Magic GM

Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith won’t exactly walk into Oracle Arena on Monday night waving championship rings, but he has every reason to feel smug and superior upon entry.

Not that he’d ever do that.

Smith is in his sixth season with the Magic, ascending the ladder from director of player development to assistant GM and now to head man.

Under different circumstances, Smith might be running the Warriors right now.

Which might not be a bad thing considering the Magic won the Southeast Division title last year, winning 52 games. It was only the fourth time in franchise history the Magic had won 50 games.

Orlando went to the playoffs for a second straight season, too, advancing to the second round.

This year the Magic are 18-6. It sure seems like they’re building something in Orlando.

And Smith is the one doing it. In his under-the-radar way.

Of course, it would be easy to dismiss Orlando’s success as simply a stroke of NBA good fortune, happening to have the No. 1 pick the year Dwight Howard came out in 2004.

But let’s revisit that pick for a moment.

There were a lot of loud voices saying the Magic needed to take Emeka Okafor, spouting the same old tired mantra of “college experience.”

Smith and Co. _ which also included former Warriors general manager Dave Twardzik _ went the Howard route, thank you very much.

Give them credit. Who knew Howard wouldn’t turn into Kwame Brown II?

As keen as that move was, Smith pulled off a better one to put himself in the GM position.

In 2002-03, Smith was the Warriors executive director of basketball operations, not a bad spot to be in under the perennially-shaky Garry St. Jean.

That season Smith was doing the heavy lifting of trying to manage a young coach, Eric Musselman, who had a very difficult team to deal with. It included a younger Gilbert Arenas and veterans like Danny Fortson and Chris Mills.

Smith did his job formidably, and in his usual understated yet direct style, without politicking or undermining.

But there was the very real issue of Chris Mullin, who was sitting with a special assistant’s title.

Smith saw the play ahead of time and headed to Orlando, where he’s building what looks to be a perennial winner.

Good for Smith _ one of the NBA's truly solid guys.

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