Kimble Ends One-Day Holdout : Clippers: Former Loyola star agrees to five-year contract, worth $1.45 million a year.

One day late and no worse for the wear, Greg (Bo) Kimble joins the NBA and the Clippers today, the owner of a five-year contract worth $7.25 million.

As holdouts go, this was mild. Not only will Friday’s announcement that Kimble had an agreement in principal with the Clippers mean that the former Loyola Marymount scoring star could will make it in for the second day of training camp at Cal Poly Pomona, the deal took only a week to complete. By Clipper standards, that’s the speed of sound.

It was the Clippers who held off until last Friday before making their first offer, waiting to see what pick No. 7, Lionel Simmons of Sacramento, and No. 9, Willie Burton of Miami, would get. Upon seeing they received an average of $1.4 million and $1.25 million annually, respectively, the Clippers offered Kimble, No. 8, $1.34 million over six seasons.

The response stunned the Clippers. According to a source, agent Leonard Armato’s most recent proposal asked for a $1-million loan, a BMW, a base salary in the range of five years at $7.5 million and a staggering clause: If Kimble made the all-star team two seasons in a row, he automatically would become an unrestricted free agent. Laughable only begins to cover the Clipper reaction to that.

Previous demands, the source said, had been for a $1-million signing bonus and $100,000 for making appearances on behalf of the team, a stipulation that no other player has in his contract.

The Clippers came back with a $1.4 million-per average, but considered the matters of early free agency, appearance money, a loan and signing bonus non-negotiable. They also held firm on having some of the money deferred. When Armato got an extra $50,000 a season and incentive clauses for Kimble being named rookie of the year, an all-star or All-NBA, among others, the deal was done, needing only signatures and a player physical to make it official.

Quick, but not expedient?

“If Leonard Armato had proposed at the start a deal at $1.5 million a year and no strange provisions, this agreement would have been concluded in 24 hours,” Clipper attorney Bob Steele said.

Armato had his victories, mostly that his client not be “slotted in” to money based on what the players surrounding Kimble got, based on cost-of-living and marketing possibilities in Los Angeles vs. Sacramento. In the end, Kimble’s $1.45 million average topped Simmons by $50,000 per season, also enough to convince them to agree to $800,000 of the total package being deferred.

“It was not about dollars,” Steele said. “The dollars the Clippers were offering in the beginning were always fair. The issues that would not allow us to close the deal were the demands they made that were totally unacceptable. Once they dropped those demands, we were able to close.”

Said Armato, declining to discuss specifics of the deal: “I’m certainly delighted to have an agreement in principal. I know Bo has been looking forward for quite some time to this day, to be in a position to have financial security and show the enormous talent he brings to the NBA.”

One other Clipper personnel matter was resolved Friday, with far less fanfare. The offer sheet Joe Wolf signed with Denver was not matched, the Clippers allowing their former No. 13 pick to go to the Nuggets without compensation. The move came as no surprise, most of all to Wolf.

Clipper Notes

Mike Williams, the director of publicity for the Dodgers the last three seasons, has been named vice president of public relations for the Clippers. . . . Ron Harper attended the opening day of camp but did not work out with the team. He did, however, do some light running while wearing a brace to support his injured right knee. Contract talks between the restricted free agent and the Clippers continue, with both sides reporting progress. . . . Danny Manning is expected to miss the first three days of practice because of a sprained ankle.

Gary Grant, back after missing the final three months of 1989-90 with a broken ankle, is now represented by boxing promoter Don King, like teammate Benoit Benjamin. . . . Keith Lee, the 11th pick in the 1985 draft, chose to pursue other opportunities instead of coming to camp here after playing with the Clippers in a summer league.

Coach Mike Schuler on the opening of training camp: “I’ve been looking forward to this day, Oct. 5, since May 25 (the day he was hired). It’s been a long, slow, drawn-out deal. Now that it’s here, I’m real excited. I have done everything humanly possible to get ready for the season. I’ve met with each player and gotten input from them on how they view the team. We as a staff have gone away for about a week and put together the system of what we want to do.”

The Clippers will leave Pomona Wednesday, making it a shorter stay than usual. After a four-game trip to open the exhibition schedule, they will finish two-a-day practices at the Sports Arena and the Westwood Recreation Center. The regular season begins Nov. 2.