NBA DRAFT LOTTERY : Instead of Stern, This Deal Calls for Monty Hall

Striving for parity among its franchises, the NBA will bring its have-nots and one other lucky team to the Equitable Center, where it will stage the sixth annual draft lottery Sunday--the key word being stage .

By the time CBS’ television cameras switch from Auburn Hills, Mich., at halftime of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, to New York, the picking order for the first 11 spots of the June 27 draft will already have been determined. But Commissioner David Stern and the team representatives, including General Manager Elgin Baylor of the Clippers, will not know the outcome.

This is done strictly for television purposes. That it has to be played out twice, once behind closed doors with another official from each team on hand, is indicative of how the constantly changing process has become so complicated.

Now it will look more like a game show than ever, which is saying something. Under the new weighted system developed so that the poorest teams have a better chance of getting the earliest picks, New Jersey, with the worst record, will have 11 balls placed into a cylinder. The second-worst team will have 10, and so on.

The team with the first ball out will have the first choice, the team with the second non-duplicate ball the second, and the team with the third non-duplicate ball the third.

From there, the eight remaining teams will be placed in reverse order of finish, so the Nets can pick no lower than fourth. Finally, cards with team logos will be sealed in envelopes and brought onstage for TV’s reaction shots.

The Clippers, with the seventh-worst record at 30-52, can do no worse than 10th.

The other non-playoff teams involved are Atlanta, Charlotte, Golden State, Miami, Minnesota, New Jersey, Orlando, Sacramento and Seattle. The 11th participant is Dallas, which went 47-35 but in 1986 traded Jay Vincent to Washington for a first-round pick in 1990. The Bullets didn’t make the playoffs, so the Mavericks make the lottery.

The Clippers’ other first-round selection, by virtue of the Ron Harper deal with Cleveland this season, will also be determined today when a drawing is held to split the tie between the Cavaliers and Indiana. Both finished 42-40, and the winner picks 13th, the other 14th. It’s actually the Clippers against Dallas, since the Mavericks hold the Pacers’ spot from another trade.

By virtue of having the best regular-season mark, the Lakers will choose 27th.

Clipper history here is good--a first, second, third, fourth and sixth. But there is no Danny Manning or David Robinson this year, so, depending on team needs, the exact position might not be of critical importance.

The likely lottery picks include Derrick Coleman of Syracuse, Dennis Scott of Georgia Tech, Lionel Simmons of La Salle, Gary Payton of Oregon State, Kendall Gill of Illinois and Rumeal Robinson of Michigan.

Clipper Notes

Mike Fratello and Mike Schuler remain the main candidates to become the next Clipper coach. K.C. Jones, who eventually moved up in Seattle, and Jimmy Rodgers declined interview requests, and the Clippers did not get permission from Cleveland to meet with Cavalier Coach Lenny Wilkens. . . . When Winston Garland underwent surgery last week to repair some loose cartilage, he became the fourth Clipper to be operated on since mid-January and the third to have his knee worked on, joining Ron Harper and Jay Edwards. Gary Grant’s surgery was on his ankle. . . .Benoit Benjamin earned approximately $500,000 in incentives during 1989-90 to go with his base salary of $1 million.

Contract talks with Harper, a restricted free agent as of July 1, are in the early stages. The Clippers, who plan to match offers from other teams, will go for a deal that contains incentive clauses based on how much Harper plays after coming back from his knee surgery.