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[love#12 0]

quote:

Originally posted by 30Assists:

Okay, sorry it has to happen on this one, FutureGM, but I'm just so tired of reading these over and over and over.

 

Am I Otis' number one fan? No, but really, even his really effed up moves have turned out to be pretty good.

 

Here's what I'm talking about (and keep in mind I freely admit I was calling for his head at the time of some of these moves. In hindsight, they were the right move.

 

1) Drafted Fran. Jury's out on this one, but ESPN and others had the dude marked pretty high. How was anyone supposed to know he'd bolt like that? So that's a bad move, but not entirely on Otis, since Weisbrod had just surprise-resigned a month or so earlier to pursue his hockey career.

 

2) Drafted Dwight. Okay, no brainer here, right? Wrong - Okafor had just won the NCAA championship and promised to be quite a rebounder and shot-blocker. Dwight was just another high-school kid trying to get in before the NBA changed the rules. It looked like a dumb, dumb move that first year, when Okafor owned Dwight each time they met. How times change. This wasn't all Otis, obviously, so let's move on.

 

3) Drafted Jameer. Dude's still starter quality for both us and a lot of other teams in the NBA. Undersized, sure, but a good leader.

 

4) Drafted Deiner and then let him go in free agency this year. (Hutchence is going to crazy but) what has Deiner done since he left? For the Pacers, he's now averaging 13 minutes a game, 5.5 points, and 2 assists. Not bad, but he could have done that here. In fact, for his first two years, that's about where he was.

 

5) Got Dooling. Okay, not the best PG in the league, but our best defender at that position, so pretty good signing, all things considered.

 

6) Got Darko and Arroyo for Cato and a 1st rounder. Turned out pretty well for us, right? Until...

 

7) Lost Darko in the whole "Signing 'Shard"-thang. Let's see, playing next to Dwight, Darko's numbers were... 8pts, 5.5rbs, 1.1ast, and 1.8blks. Not bad. Now? In Memphis? 6.4pts, 5.6rbs, 1ast, and 2blks. Huh. Didn't quite dominate the league when he left, did he? Minutes? 23.9 vs 24. So I guess we'll live.

 

8) Lost Grant Hill. Uh, the dude just up and left. Thanks for the stay, dudemar! Glad we could rehab that leg of yours while you munched up the cap! Break a leg! Don't think we can pin that on Otis.

 

9) Signed Rashard. Okay, yeah - slogged down the cap for that one, but with defenses focusing on 'Shard and Dwight, what's happened? Hedo's blown up. Could we have gotten him for less? Maybe. Probably. But we DO have him and we're a better team for it.

 

10) Traded Ariza for Cook and Evans. Boy, this one looked dumb! Ariza was shaping up to be a pretty good player in our rotation and was a pretty good defensive stopper (one of the few on the roster). Then he's traded away?! Well, here's how it's worked since he left: Ariza's stats with the Magic this year - 6.5pts, 3.5rbs, 1.5asts, 1.1stls, .3blks. Not a bad stat line. The TWO players we got for him? 4.3pts, 1.3rbs, .3blks, and 7.6pts, 2.8rbs, .9asts, and .2blks. So that's a combined 11.9pts, 4.7rbs etc. And that doesn't take into consideration their recent play now that they've adjusted to Orlando. Not such a bad move.

 

Granted, there are times that I want Otis to sign this player or that player, to keep this player or that player (Travis and Darko and Trevor come to mind ), but his moves have worked, which is more than I can say for a lot of the teams in the league.

 

Is he a genius? Probably not, but his moves haven't quite deserved the poo-chucking that's occurred with everything he does or doesn't do. He can't very well kidnap Jason Kidd, he can't just offer unlimited wealth to anyone he wants. I think we still have to be patient, because as the above shows: his moves actually haven't been all that bad in hindsight.

Wow great post..And I agree with you.

GO MAGIC!!!!!