NBA Experts Would Be Wide Awake About Draft Sleepers : Pro basketball: If picks were made again, the Lakers’ Divac would go from the 26th choice to the second.

It’s a tough league to get a break in.

Of the 27 players chosen in the first round of last summer’s NBA draft, seven start and one quit the country altogether rather than negotiate with his team.

Two personnel directors and a coach who participated in the draft were asked how the draft would go if it were held now:

1. Sacramento Kings--Danny Ferry.

If the Kings had done this in the first place, it would have saved everyone a lot of trouble and Bill Russell would still be employed. Instead, they took Pervis Ellison. The Clippers, who hadn’t worked Ferry out, took him and Ferry took a flight to Rome.

2. Clippers--Vlade Divac.

The Yugoslav 7-footer went No. 26 but has been impressive since.

“What happened in the draft, nobody knew if they could get him,” one of the three experts said. “There were rumors he was going into the Red Army. Middlemen were starting to call you from Yugoslavia, demanding money. If you were picking 1-10, you couldn’t take that chance. If you were 15 to 26, you say, ‘What the hell.’ For the Lakers, it was a great pick.”

3. San Antonio Spurs--Stacey King.

King is coming on after a slow start with the Bulls, who were delighted to get him with the fourth pick.

“He had a little weight problem early,” an expert said. “He was pump-faking on every shot and getting a lot blocked. He must have missed his first 12 shots in the pros. He’s 6-10, he can run, he can shot-block. I just think he has a tremendous upside.”

4. Miami Heat--Glen Rice.

This is where the Heat actually picked him. He is having a fair first season--averaging 13.3 points, shooting 43.5%--but everyone agrees he’s a pro shooter with pro range.

5. Charlotte Hornets--J.R. Reid.

Nobody else was quite this high on him but the Hornets wanted a Carolina player. He has averaged 11.8 points, and 8.7 rebounds, which puts him slightly outside the top 20. At 6-9 and 250, he’s a big power forward trying to play center. There is some concern that although he is charming and intelligent, he may be too stubborn to learn anything. He improved little under Dean Smith, a great teacher. Everyone notes, “pro body.” He loves contact, but people don’t run away here.

6. Chicago Bulls--Pervis Ellison.

This is where he should have gone, because he is a talented player who has to learn if he is a power forward or a small one. No one thinks he’s a center.

“You have to understand, Bill Russell could have perceived some of himself in this kid,” one expert said. “He’s a smallish (6-10) center with shot-blocking ability. Pervis is an intelligent kid. I don’t know how driven a kid he is. We liked him. You don’t like the body.”

Ellison is a wiry 210-pounder and there were concerns that he would injure easily. Sure enough, he has missed most of the season because of injuries.

7. Indiana Pacers--Sean Elliott.

He originally had a chance to go No. 1 overall, went third and, despite starting all season, hasn’t shown a lot playing for the San Antonio Spurs.

Larry Brown, the Spurs’ coach, reportedly thinks Elliott is too nice, isn’t big enough at 6-8 to be a small forward and would like to package him with Frank Brickowski for Danny Manning.

“He has a good future but it’s going to take time to develop,” one expert says.

Said another: “He’s a finesse player who’s going to have to learn to play with all the contact. He’s learning to play with hands all over him.”

8. Dallas Mavericks--Shawn Kemp.

He is the other question-mark big man who would go a lot higher today. In the real draft, he went 17th overall, to Seattle, which was already a huge gamble.

“Brilliant pick,” one expert says.

The 6-10, 235-pound, 19-year-old Kemp wasn’t from faraway Yugoslavia, but nearby Indiana. Problems chased him to Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Tex., and he hadn’t really played since high school.

Now, does he become Moses Malone or Darryl Dawkins?

Says an expert: “I don’t know what he’s going to end up but if I was going to take a shot, I’d love taking it with an athlete and a guy with a body like he’s got. I think he can be an awesome player. A little flaky kid, no doubt, but as an athlete, he has lottery skills.”

9. Washington Bullets--Cliff Robinson.

This 6-11 Connecticut star dropped all the way to No. 36, the ninth pick on the second round, where Portland nabbed him.

“After his junior year, a lot of people thought he was a lottery pick,” an expert says. “His senior year, he played like Brad Sellers. Everyone thought he was soft.”

Said another: “Great pickup for Portland. We missed him. I think the whole damn league missed him. The guy gets off more shots in less time than any rookie I’ve ever seen.”

10. Minnesota Timberwolves--Pooh Richardson.

It was a surprise when the Timberwolves made him the first point guard in the draft, but he has proved them right. Since becoming a starter, he is making 48% of his shots, averaging 15 points and nine assists and the Timberwolves are 8-10.

A charmer, he nevertheless turned some people off during workouts. One of the three experts thought he might be a con man. Another thought Richardson was too headstrong. He has had some tests of will with Coach Bill Musselman.

Had anyone known how his shooting would improve--he is at 38% from three-point range--it wouldn’t have been such a surprise.

11. Orlando Magic--Tim Hardaway.

Another surprise, this 6-footer with no shooting range went to Golden State on the 14th pick and is now running No. 2 to David Robinson for rookie of the year. He is averaging 13.2 points, making 49% of his shots and is ninth in the league in assists at 8.1 per game.

But could he play for anyone but Don Nelson, who spreads the floor?

“For some reason, Nelly is pushing this kid,” one expert says.

(Nelson has called Hardaway the best point guard he has ever coached.)

“I love his toughness and I’d love to have him on my team, but I’m not sure he’s a starting guard in this league, and I’m sure he’s not the best since (former Buck) Sidney Moncrief,” the expert said. “I think Nelly will put Sharunas Marciulonis in that spot. I think he’s building Hardaway up because he knows he needs big people up front and he wants to put him in a trade package.”

12. New Jersey Nets--Sherman Douglas.

Scouts had questions about his size and shooting. When he refused to attend postseason workouts or tournaments, he fell from the first round.

The Heat got him with the first pick in the second round. One expert calls it “the best pick in the draft.”

Douglas is shooting 48%, averaging 14.1 points and 7.5 assists since becoming a starter.

“I think he’s a quality young point guard,” an expert said. “He delivers the ball. He’s not a great shooter but he makes big shots all the time.”

Opinion is still split. Remember Mark Jackson’s big rookie year for the New York Knicks?

13. Boston Celtics--Nick Anderson.

He still is learning to play big guard, but is promising.

14. Golden State Warriors--Michael Smith.

The Celtics were disappointed early, but made him a starter out of desperation. In six games since, he has averaged 16 points and shot 50%.

At 6-10, he can pass and shoot. He still has detractors who say he is soft.

15. Denver Nuggets--Todd Lichti.

They took him in real life and don’t regret it. He’s a tough, aggressive player who can shoot and drive.

“Good, solid player who gives you 100%,” an expert says. “A Hornacek-type player that we all need.”

16. Seattle SuperSonics--Mookie Blaylock.

He has the tools but the jury is still out on him as a playmaker.

“I love his defense,” an expert says. “I thought he’d be able to disrupt a game. And he always played with post players and he got the ball to them.”

Said another: “I think he’ll be a good guard if his head’s on straight--and I’m not sure about that.”

17. Seattle SuperSonics--Dana Barros.

The SuperSonics shocked everyone by taking the 5-9 player here. Having seen him, they would do it again in a flash.

He is popularizing a new position, the “shooting one,” but he’s a born scorer with three-point range. He had several 20-point games after stepping in for Dale Ellis.

18. Chicago Bulls--B.J. Armstrong.

The Bulls wanted a point guard and took him, although they have found he is more shooter than playmaker. He is a good shooter, however, and they might try him again in hopes he will develop.

19. Philadelphia 76ers--Randy White.

In real life, the 76ers threw this pick away on Kenny Payne, the Louisville sharpshooter everyone else had projected for the second round.

The 76ers announced it live to a Spectrum crowd, which roundly booed it, prompting Coach Jim Lynam to grab a mike and angrily chastise his most devoted fans.

The 76ers still say Payne will make it. One expert says Payne “has CBA written all over him.”

There was a lot of Karl Malone-clone talk when White left Louisiana Tech, but the Mavericks, who took him in the lottery with the eighth pick, discovered that he is small for a power forward. There is still some thought that he can make it as a small forward.

20. Chicago Bulls--Dino Radja.

He is another Yugoslav, the one who actually had to go into the army.

He is a 6-10 power forward who, an expert says, “is a lot more physical than Divac, but not as talented. . . . He’ll be a very good power forward.”

With two previous picks, the Bulls would have been in good position to gamble.

The Bulls actually drafted a small power forward, 6-8 Jeff Sanders of Georgia Southern, who was injured, hasn’t played and might be a wasted choice.

The Celtics got Radja in the second round and he is supposed to join them next season.

21. Utah Jazz--Blue Edwards.

The Jazz took him the first time, too. A 6-5 forward, he started early but has been benched in favor of Thurl Bailey and will switch to big guard.

22. Portland Trail Blazers--Tommy Hammonds.

See Randy White. He’s another college power forward who will have to learn to face the basket and handle the ball. The Bullets picked him in the lottery with the ninth choice but he hasn’t had much impact. Great body. Kind of a Ken Norman-type, and Norman learned.

23. Atlanta Hawks--George McCloud.

He is another lottery pick--Pacers, seventh--who hasn’t shown anything. A 6-6 guard who handles the ball so well that he was once considered a possible point guard, he is a good outside shooter and still worth a look.

The Hawks actually took Roy Marble, who couldn’t shoot, played poorly and then checked into drug rehabilitation.

24. Phoenix Suns--Byron Irvin.

He hasn’t played much in Portland, but is tough, athletic and works hard.

25. Cleveland Cavaliers--Anthony Cook.

The Arizona shot-blocker, playing in Europe, is still considered a prospect.

26. Lakers--Kenny Battle.

A 6-5 runner-leaper who can’t shoot, he might make sense for a fast-break team, in the absence of any other real prospect.

This is the caliber of player one should expect with this pick. That is Divac was such a good pick by Jerry West, Laker general manager.

27. Detroit Pistons--Michael Ansley.

Another undersized power forward. Starting to show a little in Orlando.