THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : Time Could Be Running Out for Big Ben

Benoit, the quandary: What are the Clippers to do with 7 feet and 260-odd pounds of unrestricted-free-agent-to-be?

The trading deadline is Thursday, and they are reportedly ready to unload their big load, Benoit Benjamin.

The pros and cons?

There are plenty of both.

On the one hand, Benjamin has tortured the Clippers for every day of his six seasons.

On the other hand, he can walk and chew gum and is handy if you need someone to get a cat out of a tree. Occasionally, he plays basketball, too.

Back on the first hand, the Clippers may not be able to sign Benjamin for more reasons than we have space to recount, starting with (a) they never bothered to open negotiations; (b) he is the first NBA client represented by Don King, and (c) they are represented by the achingly tenacious, thrifty-unless-it’s-time-for-a-bash Donald T. Sterling. The resistible force meets the movable object.

On the second hand, few teams may be able or inclined to offer enough to pay King’s limo bill--the salary cap is only expected to increase $800,000--enabling the Clippers to sign Benjamin and see if they can make more than a fire-sale trade.

On the first hand, you might not get much for him then, either.

You think opinion isn’t a little divided on our big guy?

“I think we’re all vulnerable to statistics,” said an East Conference general manager whose team lacks a center. “I think the fact that he has scored and rebounded recently has intrigued some people.

“I talked to two coaches who were associated with him. One said he’d take a chance. The other said he wouldn’t touch him. I don’t think there’s any clear-cut opinion, but I’d be awful leery of him.

“In this day and age, a player of his caliber (read: price), once you’re committed to him, it’s not like you can get rid of him if it doesn’t work out.”

Home of the brave: It’s heartwarming to see your neighbors pitch in during your time of need, as the Lakers have.

Jerry West acknowledged asking Elgin Baylor about Benjamin, though talks went nowhere.

Said West: “There’s nothing going on with us. Bottom line, I don’t think they want to move him at this particular point in time.”

Comment: The Lakers must think Magic Johnson needs a bigger challenge, now that he has whipped Vlade Divac into shape.

Further comment: There’s no reason to believe West’s interest has ended. Look for him to show up on Benjamin’s doorstep this summer bearing money bags.

Get a grip: NBA types gagged en masse when Arkansas’ Nolan Richardson hyped his game against Nevada Las Vegas by calling the Rebels “the second-best team in the NBA.”

Not even the second-worst. The prevailing pro opinion is that UNLV couldn’t beat a Continental Basketball Assn. team.

Said General Manager Jerry Reynolds of the Sacramento Kings: “The UNLV guys have talent for their age, but you’re still talking about young men as opposed to men.”

This is to take nothing from the Rebels.

Four starters could be first-round draft choices. The fifth, 6-10 center George Ackles, is projected as a second-round pick.

The other four:

--Larry Johnson. He will be the first, second or third player chosen, no matter who declares for this draft. The pros worry about his lack of height, but he has a bulletproof 6-7, 250-pound body, good inside moves and a floor game. He must be a good guy; this team has admirable chemistry, which starts with the No. 1 player.

--Stacey Augmon. Has he beaten his no-offense rap? It looks like it. One NBA general manager calls him a lottery pick--a bigger version of Michael Cooper, and he is all heart. John Thompson put him on the Olympic squad as a rising sophomore when he saw Augmon crawling across the floor for a loose ball.

--Anderson Hunt. He is a junior, a good outside shooter, and he can drive.

--Greg Anthony. Opinion varies on the point guard; some say he is the most overrated Rebel.

Add draft: Most general managers say that without underclassmen, this is the thinnest selection group in years. For that reason alone, several quality players are expected to make themselves available.

The early line includes:

--Shaquille O’Neal, Louisiana State sophomore, no matter what Dale Brown says.

--Kenny Anderson, Georgia Tech sophomore, no matter what Bobby Cremins says.

--Billy Owens, Syracuse junior.

NBA Notes

Summit meeting: At the All-Star game, Donald T. Sterling asked Knick president John Diller to call the Clippers if they want to trade Patrick Ewing. The conversation took place on an NBA-chartered bus--with half the league listening. USA Today’s Pete Vecsey called it his favorite All-Star moment since the ABA game at which Commissioner Jack Dolph left his briefcase open and writers spied the contracts of underclassmen Howard Porter and Jim McDaniels. . . . Add Ewing: Knicks’ officials are actually mentioning the unmentionable, trading him. He will be a restricted free agent and they fear his new salary--probably in the $5-million range--won’t let them rebuild the team with a $12.5-million salary cap.

Philip Harrison, father of Shaquille O’Neal, said college referees let opponents beat up his son, adding: “If he’s going to get fouled like that, he might as well get paid for it.” . . . Harrison may also be getting hip to the dollars involved. With O’Neal’s leverage, he would dwarf Derrick Coleman’s $3-million salary with the New Jersey Nets. Figure $4 million, if he hires an agent with a pulse. At that level, LSU may not be able to compete.

Meanwhile, back in the Chicago front office, Bulls-gate must be weighing on General Manager Jerry Krause. He huddled with Bob Whitsitt, president of the Seattle SuperSonics at the All-Star game, then lashed out at a reporter who wrote that they discussed a Stacey King-Michael Cage deal. . . . Said Krause: “The whole thing is bull. Bob Whitsitt and I were just talking about our families. We didn’t talk about any players at all.” . . . Krause must have meant their extended families, because he and Whitsitt talked for 30 minutes.

Said Whitsitt: “Everybody knows what we need--the same thing we’ve needed the past two years. There just aren’t many low-post guys who block shots and rebound out there, and there are very few you can get. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying to get one.” . . . Doesn’t he sound like a man who could give Benoit Benjamin a nice home? How about Benjamin and Gary Grant for Olden Polynice and Nate McMillan?

Ever-defiant: Bernard King of the Washington Bullets, upset this time by suggestions that a man his age (34) can’t maintain his pace: “I can’t be measured in terms of what anyone else has done or hasn’t done.” . . . He’s just about right, too. . . . No 34-year-old player has won a scoring title--Jerry West won in 1970, two months before turning 32; Wilt Chamberlain won in 1966, five months before turning 30--but King is less than a point behind the Bulls’ Michael Jordan. . . . Big Pro-blamuhs: Philadelphia was 18-11 when it traded Mike Gminski for Armon Gilliam, 7-12 since. Gilliam isn’t getting many shots since Charles Barkley’s return to the 76ers and hasn’t hit double figures in five of his last seven games. . . . The San Antonio Spurs are 4-4 without Rod Strickland, despite playing seven of the eight games at home.

The Pistons lost consecutive games at the Palace for the first time since it opened in 1988. . . . Detroit’s Dennis Rodman is wearing injured Isiah Thomas’ No. 11 on his sneakers for inspiration. How about carving Zeke’s picture into his haircut? Maybe he has to let his current cranial motif--”Wild Thang”--grow out first. . . . Chief attractions of Charlotte, N.C., compiled by reporters at the All-Star game: Most airlines don’t fly there. It’s not Sacramento. The local paper isn’t hiring--but let me know if you hear anything. The Piggly-Wiggly has good prices. It will be 27 years until the All-Star game returns.