"If I can consistently shoot 17 to 18-foot jumpers then I am going to be able to play as a four man a little bit more," he said. "I don’t think there’s a problem with me playing there from a defensive standpoint. I’m pretty confident that I can defend most of the fours in the league and I definitely know the defensive rotations and the defensive schemes. But I have to improve my offensive game. I believe I have offensive game; I just have to show it."

Smith's Magic finished the regular season with a 59-23 record, a third straight Southeast Division title and were generally considered the hottest team in the Eastern Conference going into the playoffs. After sweeps of its first two playoff series, though, Orlando was throttled in six games by Boston in the East finals. It lost the first two games of the series at home and was down 3-0 before making a face-saving showing. Afterward, there were all kinds of howls about Dwight Howard's leadership, and Stan Van Gundy's coaching strategy and Jameer Nelson's subpar play against Rondo.

But none of it fazes Smith.

"I usually don't have a knee-jerk reaction to anything," he said Sunday, nine days after his team's season ended. "We didn't finish the way we wanted to finish. Twenty-nine teams have the same problem."

One year removed from its own Finals appearance, the core of the Magic is set for years to come: Howard in the middle, Rashard Lewis at power forward and Nelson at point guard. Smith will have to make decisions on forward Matt Barnes (who says he'll opt out of the final year of his contract), on Vince Carter (who has one fully guaranteed year remaining on his contract and a partial guarantee for the 2011-12 season -- which would make him an attractive piece to trade). Oh, and valuable bench player J.J. Redick is a restricted free agent this summer, too. But Smith is not looking to make wholesale changes.

"That doesn't make any sense to me," he said. "We're not that far away."