It’s a Game of Chance : In Today’s Lottery, Clippers Get Two Shots at Trying to Land Danny Manning

The Clippers, who have compiled pro basketball’s worst record over the last two seasons, are hoping to turn their luck around in today’s National Basketball Assn. lottery, which will determine the order of next month’s draft.

“I’m not superstitious,” said Clipper General Manager Elgin Baylor, who will represent the club at the NBA’s big spin. “I believe in good fortune, and certainly we have been unfortunate. But I believe that we’ll be fortunate soon.”

Forward Danny Manning, who led Kansas to the 1988 National Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship, is the top prize in the lottery, which will be televised live by CBS at halftime of today’s Western Conference semifinal showdown between the Lakers and the Utah Jazz at the Forum.

NBA scouts and coaches say that Manning is the best player available in the draft this season.

“I think Manning will go No. 1, no matter who gets the first pick.,” said Cotton Fitzsimmons, new coach of the Phoenix Suns. “We plan to get the first pick and we’ll draft him No. 1.”

Said John Nash, general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers: “I can’t speak for other teams, but I think Manning will go first.”

The Clippers will have two shots at Manning.

They are the first team to have two lottery picks in the same year and are guaranteed to get no worse than the fourth choice because they finished with the worst record in the NBA. Besides their own, they also have the Sacramento Kings’ selection as a result of a 1986 trade that sent Derek Smith, Junior Bridgeman and Franklin Edwards to the Kings.

“I’d be satisfied with picking 1-2,” Baylor said from Colorado Springs, Colo., where he was attending the U.S. Olympic trials.

Other top players include centers Rik Smits of Marist, Rony Seikaly of Syracuse and Will Perdue of Vanderbilt; guards Hersey Hawkins of Bradley (the nation’s top scorer), Mitch Richmond of Kansas State, Rex Chapman of Kentucky, Gary Grant of Michigan, Keith Smart of Indiana and Rod Strickland of DePaul, and forwards Charles Smith of Pittsburgh and Chris Morris of Auburn.

“It’s a good draft,” Fitzsimmonsm said. “I see it as similar to last year’s but a lot deeper.”

This will be the NBA’s fourth lottery, and it will be the third time that the Clippers have participated.

The New York Knicks hit the jackpot in the first one in 1985 and selected center Patrick Ewing. The Clippers finished third and drafted center Benoit Benjamin.

The Clippers qualified for the 1986 lottery but didn’t participate because they had dealt away their top pick to the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers won the lottery but traded the pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Roy Hinson. The Cavaliers used that choice to take center Brad Daugherty, who has developed into one of the top young centers in the NBA.

The San Antonio Spurs won the 1987 lottery and selected center David Robinson, who will join them after serving his Navy commitment.

The Clippers wound up with the fourth pick in the 1987 lottery, which they used to select swingman Reggie Williams of Georgetown. Williams, who was sidelined for much of the season, had a disappointing rookie campaign.

Other teams in the lottery today are the Golden State Warriors, the Suns, the Indiana Pacers, the New Jersey Nets and the 76ers.

Don Nelson, coach and general manager of the Warriors, won’t represent the team here because he said he doesn’t want to jinx his hapless team.

“I’ve never been lucky,” he said. “So we’re sending Jack McMahon, our director of player personnel.

“Our theme this season is the luck of the Irish. Jack’s Irish, and so are our owner, Jim Fitzgerald, and Dan Finnane, our president.”