Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today that Richard Smith has been promoted to Director of Basketball Operations. In addition, David Fredman has been hired as a scout for the team. These moves collectively replace the position of director of player personnel, formerly held by Troy Weaver, who is now the assistant general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics.

Smith is in his 14th year with the Jazz organization and had most recently served as the Jazz’s director of scouting services for the past five seasons, where he provided the coaching staff with scouting reports, player profiles and analysis of player statistics and tendencies. In addition, he also served as the team player development director, working on issues related to players’ off-the-court development.

Smith spent his first five seasons with the team as the video coordinator and a scout, followed by three seasons as the assistant director of scouting. During his tenure with the organization, he has also served as a bench assistant for the annual Rocky Mountain Revue summer league team and served as assistant coach and video coordinator for the Utah Starzz from 1997-2002.

A part-time Jazz basketball assistant for 11 seasons (1984-95), Smith joined the team full-time prior to the 1995-96 season following 16 years at the University of Utah as a student affairs administrator.

The native of Norwich, Conn., “Smitty” earned a bachelor’s degree in history and psychology and a master’s degree in student personnel administration from Central Connecticut State College (New Britain, Conn.). In addition, he also has a certificate in business communication from Michigan State University.

Fredman, who has 28 years of experience with the Jazz, returns to the organization after spending last season as the inaugural general manager of the Jazz’s D-League affiliate, the Utah Flash. Prior to that, Fredman spent five seasons as assistant general manager of the Denver Nuggets.

During his tenure with Denver, the Nuggets engineered numerous personnel moves which shifted them from a struggling team with no salary cap flexibility to a perennial playoff team. In 2003-04, the Nuggets posted the seventh-biggest turnaround in NBA history, improving their win total by 26 games and reaching the playoffs for the first time since 1995.

Before joining the Nuggets, Fredman spent the previous 27 years with the Jazz, and was one of the last remaining members of the original staff from the New Orleans years. He worked directly in basketball operations for the final 14 of those seasons, serving as director of scouting/assistant coach for the last two. From 1987-99, Fredman was an assistant coach for the club, focusing on advance scouting and game preparation.

The native of Marion, Ill., attended Logan Junior College (Cartersville, Ill.) and Southern Illinois University before earning a bachelor’s degree in communications from Loyola University (New Orleans).