Lakers Acquire Seattle’s Threatt : NBA: They trade three second-round picks for veteran guard. Drew, Thompson waived.

Desperately seeking someone, the Lakers spent the entire off-season looking and finally roped a reinforcement Wednesday.

They traded three mid-1990s second-round picks to the Seattle SuperSonics for little-known but well-regarded Sedale Threatt, who is projected as the long-sought backup for Magic Johnson and an answer to a long shopping list.

Threatt, 30, can handle either backcourt spot. This is helpful because neither shooting guard, Byron Scott or Terry Teagle, plays the point.

Threatt, a 51% shooter the past four seasons, also has played well defensively against Laker nemeses Kevin Johnson and Tim Hardaway.

If Threatt plays to form, Coach Mike Dunleavy will have the backup Johnson has been pleading for . . . and insurance against further struggles by Teagle.

Threatt’s arrival means the Lakers won’t have to bump up second-year man Tony Smith, a point guard for only two years, to Johnson’s understudy.

To make room under the salary cap, the Lakers finally waived center Mychal Thompson, 36, and guard Larry Drew, 33. Thompson, their all-time leading phrase-maker, played five seasons here during which the Lakers won two NBA titles and made the finals four times. He may now find his way back to Pat Riley in New York.

“I think we got somebody our coaches wanted,” General Manager Jerry West said of Threatt. “I think his versatility was pretty exciting to us.”

For real excitement, West explored a bigger deal. Sources say he hoped to trade for Threatt and forward Derrick McKey but needed an adjustment of the salary cap rules. When the league took no action at its meeting here last month, the SuperSonics pulled McKey off the market.

Coincidentally or not, McKey Wednesday filed for arbitration, saying the SuperSonics reneged on a promise to renegotiate his contract.

The Lakers started this summer with several needs but were frustrated along with everyone else by the small salary cap boost.

A draft-day deal sending A.C. Green to Golden State so they could draft Oregon’s Terrell Brandon failed when Brandon went before the Golden State pick.

The Lakers were interested in Miami swingman Willie Burton but no deal ensued.

The McKey deal foundered.

So West took what he could get in Threatt, an eight-year veteran whose enthusiasm is obvious; West says he had to take a cut in his $775,000 salary to come here and, though his contract was extended, he cannot recoup the missing dollars at present.

Drew left without comment and Thompson took the news typically.

“What am I going to do?” he said. “Well, let’s see. Leave here. Go back to my room. Make a few phone calls. Oh, after that?

“It’s not coming out of the blue. I’ve been mentally prepared for this. I appreciate the Lakers, Jerry West and Jerry Buss allowing me to go somewhere and play.”

Thompson actually spent the final months last season saying goodby publicly. Afterward, he and West worked out a buyout of the last season on his contract in preparation for his departure.

“Thirteen years in the league, you learn how to read between the lines,” Thompson said. “In bold print. Nobody had to smack me upside the head.

“Now to try to find employment . . . or people in the Bahamas will have to put up with my candidacy earlier than anticipated.

“I’ll miss these guys. They’re unbelievable winners. You look for a definition of the word winner in the dictionary, they should have a picture of the Lakers. . . . Chicago, Portland and the Lakers are the best. Not only do they have the talent, but these guys know how to play championship basketball. That’s what separates these three teams from the rest of the dwarfs. They’re the Prince Valiants and then it’s Sleepy and Dopey.

“Let me see, they won, what, four championships before I got here?” Thompson said. “Long as they don’t waive Magic, they’ll be OK.”

Laker Notes

The Lakers can use Sam Perkins to back up Vlade Divac but are looking for a No. 2 center. Jerry West said he was interested in Jack Sikma, but Sikma announced his retirement Wednesday. . . . The No. 2 picks going to Seattle are in 1994, ’95 and ’96. Sedale Threatt averaged 12.7 points and 3.4 assists last year.