THE NBA DRAFT : The Other Teams : Sacramento’s Secret Is Out: It’s Ellison

Because they broke convention by keeping the first overall selection in the National Basketball Assn. draft cloaked in secrecy until the last possible moment, the Sacramento Kings figured to unveil a surprise choice Tuesday night at New York’s Felt Forum.

And they did not disappoint.

The Kings, ending speculation that began immediately after they received the first pick in May’s draft lottery, made Louisville forward Pervis Ellison the first overall pick over the likes of Sean Elliott, Glen Rice, Stacey King and Danny Ferry.

Though there was no definitive No. 1 choice in this draft, unlike previous seasons, Sacramento’s choice did not lack in shock value.

Most of the predraft speculation had the Kings either trading the first pick for an established player or selecting King, one of the few true centers available in the draft. Instead, the Kings chose one of the top forwards available, but certainly not the clear standout.

Ellison, 6-foot-9, 210 pounds, is the only player in Louisville history to score more than 2,000 points and grab more than 1,000 rebounds. As a freshman, Ellison helped lead the Cardinals to the NCAA championship. He finished his career as the NCAA’s third all-time leading shot blocker.

Even Ellison seemed a little surprised that he was the first selection.

“I couldn’t believe it at first,” said Ellison, who said he was not aware that the Kings had taken him until Commissioner David Stern made the announcement in the nationally televised ceremony. “I was in total shock. I’m glad I didn’t have to stand up as soon as they called my name. I think I could have failed.”

Many probably failed to predict the order of this draft, in which surprises abounded.

Among the more unexpected developments:

--UCLA’s Pooh Richardson was the first point guard selected. Richardson was chosen 10th overall by the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves, who apparently were not satisfied with former Laker David Rivers as their starter.

Richardson was selected ahead of such notable guards as Oklahoma’s Mookie Blaylock (picked 12th overall by the New Jersey Nets) and B.J. Armstrong (picked 18th overall by the Chicago Bulls).

--Shawn Kemp, a 19-year-old early entrant who has not played since high school 14 months ago, was chosen 17th overall by the Seattle SuperSonics. Kemp, a 6-8 3/4 post up player who was dropped from Kentucky in the fall of his freshman year after he was found trying to pawn jewelry belonging to his roommate, was predicted to be a late first-round choice, if that.

--And Yugoslav center Vlade Divac, projected as a mid-first-round pick, was not chosen until the Lakers selected him with the 26th pick.

But the main surprises were near the top.

The Clippers, choosing second, also sent a mild shock through the NBA establishment by selecting the 6-10 Ferry, son of Washington Bullet General Manager Bob Ferry. The Clippers supposedly were in need of a shooting guard and were said to be leaning to Michigan’s Rice or Arizona’s Elliott. A surprised Ferry joined others around the league in speculating that he might be traded.

Elliott, whose draft stock may have fallen because of questions about a left knee that requires a brace when he plays, was chosen third overall by the San Antonio Spurs, who seemingly filled a need more than the Kings and Clippers.

The 6-8 Elliott, who can play small forward or shooting guard, probably will start at small forward for the Spurs, alongside center David Robinson, power forward Terry Cummings, big guard Willie Anderson and point guard Johnny Dawkins.

“This obviously could be a great team with Cummings and Willie Anderson and with David Robinson coming in,” Elliott said.

Rice, who averaged 25.6 points in leading Michigan to the NCAA championship this season, was selected fourth by the Miami Heat.

The Charlotte Hornets, the other expansion team from last season, made good on a promise and selected North Carolina forward J.R. Reid ahead of King. King’s fall to the sixth selection, after being touted as the possible first pick, was surprising. The Bulls, with three first-round picks, had a productive draft. They selected King, 6-11, 232 pounds, sixth overall, Armstrong 18th overall and Jeff Sanders of Georgia Southern with the 20th pick.

The addition of King enabled the Bulls to trade backup center Dave Corzine to the expansion Orlando Magic for second-round picks in the 1990 and 1992 drafts.

THE FIRST ROUND

Team Player Hgt Pos 1 Sacramento Pervis Ellison 6-9 F 2 Clippers Danny Ferry 6-11 F 3 San Antonio Sean Elliott 6-8 F-G 4 Miami Glen Rice 6-7 G 5 Charlotte J.R. Reid 6-9 F 6 Chicago (from New Jersey) Stacey King 6-11 C 7 Indiana George McCloud 6-6 G 8 Dallas Randy White 6-7 F 9 Washington Tom Hammonds 6-8 F 10 Minnesota Pooh Richardson 6-1 G 11 Orlando Nick Anderson 6-6 F 12 New Jersey (from Portland) Mookie Blaylock 6-1 G 13 Boston Michael Smith 6-10 F 14 Golden State Tim Hardaway 5-11 G 15 Denver Todd Lichti 6-4 G 16 Seattle (from Houston) Dana Barros 5-11 G 17 Seattle (from Philadelphia) Shawn Kemp 6-10 F 18 Chicago (from Seattle) B.J. Armstrong 6-2 G 19 Philadelphia (from Seattle) Kenny Payne 6-8 F 20 Chicago (from Milwaukee) Jeff Sanders 6-9 F 21 Utah Blue Edwards 6-5 G 22 Portland (from New York) Byron Irvin 6-5 G 23 Atlanta Roy Marble 6-6 G 24 Phoenix* Anthony Cook 6-9 F 25 Cleveland John Morton 6-3 G 26 Lakers Vlade Divac 6-11 F 27 Detroit* Kenny Battle 6-6 F

Coll. or Country 1 Louisville 2 Duke 3 Arizona 4 Michigan 5 North Carolina 6 Oklahoma 7 Florida State 8 Louisiana Tech 9 Georgia Tech 10 UCLA 11 Illinois 12 Oklahoma 13 Brigham Young 14 Texas El Paso 15 Stanford 16 Boston College 17 Trinity Valley CC 18 Iowa 19 Louisville 20 Georgia Southern 21 East Carolina 22 Missouri 23 Iowa 24 Arizona 25 Seton Hall 26 Yugoslavia 27 Illinois

* The Suns selected Cook for the Pistons in exchange for guard Michael Williams and Detroit’s pick at No. 27. The Pistons chose Illinois forward Ken Battle for Phoenix and the trade was officially announced at the start of second round.

THE SECOND ROUND

Team Player Hgt Pos 28 Miami Sherman Douglas 6-0 G 29 Charlotte Dyron Nix 6-7 F 30 Milwaukee (from San Ant.) Frank Kornet 6-9 F 31 Clippers Jeff Martin 6-6 F 32 New Jersey (from Chicago) Stanley Brundy 6-7 F 33 Clippers (from Sacramento) Jay Edwards 6-5 G 34 Minnesota (from Indiana) Gary Leonard 7-1 C 35 Dallas Pat Durham 6-7 F 36 Portland Cliff Robinson 6-10 F 37 Orlando Michael Ansley 6-7 F 38 Minnesota Doug West 6-6 G 39 Washington Ed Horton 6-8 F 40 Boston Dino Radja 6-8 F 41 Washington (from Golden St.) Doug Roth 7-0 C 42 Denver Michael Cutright 6-4 G 43 Cleveland (from Houston) Chucky Brown 6-8 F 44 Philadelphia Reggie Cross 6-8 F 45 Miami (from Seattle) Scott Hafner 6-3 G 46 Phoenix (from Chicago) Ricky Blanton 6-7 F 47 Denver (from Milwaukee) Reggie Turner 6-8 F 48 Utah Junie Lewis 6-3 G 49 Atlanta H. Workman 6-3 G 50 New York Brian Quinnett 6-8 F 51 Phoenix Mike Morrison 6-4 G 52 Phoenix (from Lakers) Greg Grant 5-7 G 53 Dallas (from Cleveland) Jeff Hodge 6-2 G 54 Philadelphia (from Detroit) Toney Mack 6-5 G

Coll. or Country 28 Syracuse 29 Tennessee 30 Vanderbilt 31 Murray St. 32 DePaul 33 Indiana 34 Missouri 35 Colorado St. 36 Connecticut 37 Alabama 38 Villanova 39 Iowa 40 Yugoslavia 41 Tennessee 42 McNeese St. 43 N. Carolina St. 44 Hawaii 45 Evansville 46 Louisiana St. 47 Ala. Birmingham 48 South Alabama 49 Oral Roberts 50 Washington St. 51 Loyola, Md. 52 Trenton State 53 South Alabama 54 Georgia