THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : If Barkley Matures, Look Out

Charles Barkley held a retrospective in the Forum last week, showing off his many aspects.

He did things no one could touch. When Barkley drives the baseline and jumps back into the middle to shoot, the universe parts for him, if it knows what’s good for it. When he wants a rebound, chalk it up.

He pouted when things went badly and failed to make it across half court more than once.

He swore loudly on each missed free throw. He’s only 74% lifetime and annually leads the league in attempts, so imagine the possibilities.

He put the rap for the loss on his Philadelphia 76er teammates: “My rhythm was there. You’ll have to ask the other guys why their rhythm wasn’t there.”

He argued against the theory that greatness is marked by the ability to make the players around them better: “That’s a bunch of . . . Me and Michael Jordan haven’t been fortunate to have great players surrounding us.”

Barkley is 255 pounds of fun, when his galloping-boor sense of humor doesn’t run away with him, and he’s Hall of Fame great. But it’s no coincidence that neither his Auburn teams (also featuring Chuck Person) nor the post-Julius Erving 76ers ever won more than one game or one series in postseason play.

Last season, when Barkley made a real MVP run, he denied having grown up.

He knew whereof he spoke, too.

Thump and Bump get a new chum: The theft, er, trade that brought the 76ers Armon Gilliam from the Charlotte Hornets for aging, amiable Mike Gminski is just what the doctor ordered.

The doctor might have been Barkley.

Dr. Barkley told confidantes of the proposed deal a month ago, and he wasn’t upset about it. In last spring’s playoffs, Barkley got on Gminski’s case until Coach Jim Lynam told Charles to chill out.

Barkley and Rick Mahorn, a.k.a. Thump and Bump, now have a large young menace they can raise as their own. The Sixer front line may be short--6 feet 9, 6-8, 6-4 1/2--but it’s going to represent 750 pounds of mayhem.

Clipper update: In the throes of a long trip, waiting for the return of Ron Harper who says it won’t be before late January, trailing Seattle and Dallas for the last playoff spot in the West, things could get worse before they get better, if they do.

Are they shopping Danny Manning?

The suspicion persists it’s more than idle speculation. Last spring, owner Don Sterling said his friend, Raider boss Al Davis, once asked him if Manning was really that good. Sterling left the story hanging, suggesting that he, himself, hadn’t been able to provide an answer.

Given good health--in other words, better luck than he has had so far--Manning can be special, the kind of player who makes teammates better.

Trade Benoit Benjamin, Gary Grant, Ken Norman, Loy Vaught or anyone but Charles Smith and Manning.

Let Manning go and it could make the Clippers’ Ricky Pierce deal look like good. Pierce was sent to Milwaukee along with Terry Cummings and Craig Hodges for Marques Johnson, Harvey Catchings, Junior Bridgeman and cash on Sept. 29, 1984.

Usual suspects: The trading deadline nears. Speculation centers on:

Isiah Thomas--The Piston turnaround probably takes this long shot off the board but perhaps not forever. Was that Thomas-for-Manning rumor groundless? Even if Piston owner Bill Davidson dotes on him, it’s getting warm for Isiah in Detroit.

Thomas doesn’t dismiss the notion out of hand.

“It’s not like I think I can never be traded,” he said. “Understand, this is a business, and I might be traded some day. And L.A. wouldn’t be such a bad place to live.”

John Salley--He’s a free-agent-to-be, and the Pistons are exasperated that he annually leaves a wake-up call for April 1.

Dale Ellis--Troubled sharpshooter. Seattle doesn’t want another fire sale, though.

Walter Davis--Old sharpshooter who doesn’t fit in with the Nuggets’ youth movement. Chicago tried to get him last summer, might try again.

John (Hot Rod) Williams--The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports the Cavaliers are nursing him back from a foot injury to safeguard his trade value. But you have to create $3.8-million worth of room under the salary cap to take him.

Scott Skiles--Free-agent-to-be, almost got cut in Orlando before the season. Slow and small, but he averaged 21 points, 11 assists and four rebounds in December. The Pistons reportedly are interested.

NBA Notes

Know thy opponent: Michael Jordan, asked what he thought when Golden State’s Don Nelson put Chris Mullin on him: “Lunch.” . . . Know thy opponent II: Charles Oakley snarled at Larry Bird during a game for complaining about fouls. Said Oakley: “He’s always talking out there and (Kevin) McHale puts in his two cents. Bird wasn’t saying that last year in the fifth game (New York’s fifth-game playoff victory at Boston.)” Bird’s response was to score nine points over Oakley in three minutes. . . . Know thy teammate: Dominique Wilkins scored 31 points to lead Atlanta in a rout of the Celtics, who, he said, had shown the Hawks up earlier, even if other Hawks didn’t notice. Said Doc Rivers: “We all knew how well he plays when he’s upset like that, so nobody tried to talk him out of it.” . . . Get to know thy teammate while you can: The Cavaliers’ Darnell Valentine on Craig Ehlo, who was ejected for punching Portland’s 7-foot, 270-pound Kevin Duckworth: “Craig was ready to float like a butterfly and run like a bee. He was going to do the Ali Shuffle, backward.” . . . Duckworth claimed Ehlo was out to get him. Said Ehlo: “Is he crazy? I’m going to be gunning for a guy who out-weighs me by 200 pounds?”

Now, a worthy opponent for Duckworth. NBA scouting director Marty Blake on Stanley Roberts, the 7-footer who left Louisiana State after his freshman year and is playing in Greece: “I thought somebody was going to harpoon him. He was up to 320 pounds, the last I saw.” Look for Stanley to breach on the first round of the next draft, anyway. . . . Gift of prophecy: Before their game, Charles Barkley sent a ballboy to tell Shawn Kemp he wouldn’t block any of Barkley’s shots. Kemp got one in the first quarter of Seattle’s rout, later dunked over Barkley, made a six-gun of his fingers and pantomimed gunning him down. Said Barkley: “Let’s be realistic. I can’t worry too much about a guy pointing at me. I’ve got more important things on my mind than Shawn Kemp.” Like, what? . . . Knick General Manager Al Bianchi disliked Rick Pitino’s college-style full-court press. Now Bianchi’s hand-picked coach, John MacLeod, says he wants to press. Pressing would open the game for guards Gerald Wilkins and Mark Jackson, whose shooting woes hurt in half-court ball. . . . Bianchi, insisting the Knicks have good material, fired Stu Jackson at 7-8. MacLeod is 6-8. . . . The betting in New York: MacLeod outlasts Bianchi.