I am certain Shaka Smart knows basketball. I'm confident the VCU coach (for now) recognizes a good opportunity when he sees one. But what I'm most certain of is that Smart has no idea what he'd be signing on for when it comes to working for University of Texas athletic director Steve Patterson.

Smart is reportedly in deep discussions with Texas. The Longhorns believe he's their next men's basketball coach. I'm certain he's a sucker if he takes the job. Because the hope here is that Smart is wise enough to weed through the salesmanship from Patterson and do some research on the guy who engineered the least productive era of NBA basketball in Portland.

Patterson likes to take credit for the Trail Blazers "rebuild," but anyone who was there knows better. During a four-year period beginning in 2003, Patterson fostered an unhealthy culture inside the organization, he fired more than 100 employees, he threw what was then the Rose Garden Arena into bankruptcy, cracked down on anyone who crossed him, and plotted from his president's office to also become the team's general manager. The pettiness knew no bounds. In fact, he ordered a Trail Blazers IT employee to register a domain name when he was ticked at me once.

Before Patterson, the Blazers reached the NBA playoffs in 21 consecutive seasons. In Patterson's four seasons, Portland never finished better than .500, and the 21-61 record in 2005-06 tied for the worst finish in franchise history.

His draft picks were bad (selecting Martell Webster instead of Chris Paul in the 2005 NBA Draft, for example). His grandstanding, including the time Patterson announced he couldn't trade Damon Stoudamire for a folding chair, grew tired. But it was the undermining of employees, the fostering of mistrust in the halls of the organization that led to his departure in 2007.

Remember the time Patterson fined Darius Miles $150,000 and publicly scolded the small forward for berating his coach in a film session? I do. So does then-coach Maurice Cheeks. Because that act of support for Cheeks was followed by a back-room deal between Patterson and Miles in which the small forward would receive every penny of the fine back, plus interest. When I informed Cheeks of the arrangement, he said, "I might as well pack my bags."

Smart?

You getting all this?

Smart, 37, has averaged better than 27 victories a season at his current university. He made the 2011 Final Four. A union between a sleeping-giant like Texas and a general like Smart makes complete sense. Right up to the point where you see Patterson lingering in the background, bumbling along.

It ends ugly with Patterson. He gets you before you get him. That's the way he operates. And if Smart is willing to spend the energy and exert a fair amount of attention to managing his athletic director, then by all means, he should accept the job.

But why?

Why leave VCU, where you've already proven you can reach a Final Four? Why leave a university where you're being cast for a bronze statue in exchange for a place who handed the keys to a boob? In Patterson's short time in Texas, he's talked about playing football games in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He ran off Mack Brown from the football program like a teenager who didn't know how to break up with his girlfriend.

Patterson has now flushed Rick Barnes, who was scooped up by Tennessee. Barnes revealed this week that Patterson told him after his NCAA Tournament loss that he'd be back for another season, then shifted course, demanding that he fire assistants or be gone himself. Also, that tidbit was leaked, in a move that had familiar fingerprints all over it.

I understand what people see in Patterson. He talks the talk. He pretends to know where the money is buried. He grew up in arenas, learning how to work the room. The surprise is how woeful he is once he gets control of the room.

If Smart takes the job, he should do so only with total autonomy. No other way around it. Because Patterson will eventually get in his way. He can't help it.

Smart is doing his diligence, presumably. I'd suggest a call to Cheeks. Maybe some contact with those who worked under Patterson at ASU and certainly at One Center Court. Maybe talk, too, to Arizona assistant Stoudamire, the guy Patterson pointed to and tried to embarrass with that folding chair.

I'll bet Stoudamire would never take that job.

Talk about smart.

--- @JohnCanzanoBFT