Smith Shows a Heart Irregularity : Pro basketball: Lakers send No. 2 draft pick back to Los Angeles for more tests.

The Lakers said they will send No. 2 draft pick Tony Smith home for more tests after his preseason physical showed an irregular heartbeat.

Smith, a 6-foot-4 guard from Marquette, was supposed to fly to Los Angeles this morning and undergo tests at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

“It could be one test or it could be two weeks,” trainer Gary Vitti said.

Said Coach Mike Dunleavy: “It’s funny (because) he’s been in a situation at the pre-draft camp in Chicago where they went over him with a fine-tooth comb.

“Obviously, the longer someone’s out, the more it hurts his chances. In his case, he’s ahead of schedule. He knows what we’re doing here from playing on our team in the summer. If it’s a 3-4-5 day thing, I don’t think it’ll hurt. If it gets longer than that, he’ll miss some conditioning.”

Smith had been held out of drills the first two days of camp, while the team waited for a clarification of his status.

“You’ve been waiting basically all summer for this to come around,” Smith said. “Then you’ve got to sit out a few more days. It’s hard to sit there and watch. You want to be out there mixing it up with the guys.

“I’m not worried. I feel fine. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Something just showed up that they’ve got to check out.”

Guard Larry Drew says this camp feels like “a cloud has been lifted off our heads.”

If that sounds as if he’s talking about ex-coach Pat Riley, he is.

“It wasn’t really a personal thing,” Drew said. “The way he ran his ship, I just had somewhat of a difficult time adjusting.

“I know I was playing tight. I was always looking over my shoulder, getting into a ballgame knowing if I made a mistake I was going to be pulled.

“Plus, I was coming in for Magic (Johnson). You come in behind the best, everyone looks to you, in a sense, to duplicate what he’s doing out there.”

Did Drew speak with Riley about his confusion?

“Let’s put it this way, Riley wasn’t the kind of guy--I didn’t feel comfortable at going up and talking to him.

“Hey, the first time I walked in to Mike Dunleavy’s office, he told me he understood the predicament (bench) players get caught in. He played that role for most of his career. It’s important to try and get involved instead of just being out there passing the ball. He said he’d try to run a few plays for me. Mike’s like a player. He’s down-to-earth, easy to talk to.”

Drew’s problem wasn’t symptomatic of the entire team, because most other players had more clearly-defined roles under Riley. However, Drew says there’s a general good feeling under Dunleavy.

“I would say we’re looser,” he said.”