THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : ClippersFace Tough Climb to Next Level

Clipper heaven: It was only appropriate they got their Game 5 in the sun because 1991-92 was their season.

It was only appropriate that they outlasted the Lakers.

The Lakers won everyone’s admiration for delaying the inevitable.

The Clippers are the inevitable.

With their wealth of young talent--and four more No. 1 picks in the next two drafts--their resources dwarf the Lakers’.

But this is where it gets tricky.

Although you might not guess it from Clipper history, they have just finished the easy part of the journey, from ground zero to respectability. All they needed was enough lottery appearances, which they made, and a big-league and demonstrably secure coach, whom they finally hired.

From respectability to excellence--that’s where it gets difficult.

The Clippers are still a work-in-progress. Their Utah series was really a test of the viability of Larry Brown’s all-athlete, no-center, Charles-Smith-in-the-middle lineup.

Results were mixed. In the heavy going, Brown had to use Olden Polynice, for whom he does not seem to have long-range plans, on Karl Malone.

They’re looking for a center and a point guard, too. Gary Grant actually performed lucidly for Brown and Doc Rivers is great to have around, but the position can be upgraded. Pooh Richardson is said to be back to No. 1 on their list.

Then there’s the Smith quandary. He’s a restricted free agent seeking something in the $3-million neighborhood.

Because of injuries, Smith and Danny Manning have always performed like two pistons; when one was up, the other was down. Brown arrived as Manning rose to new heights--while Smith struggled to fit in. Brown, of course, already had fond memories of Manning from Kansas.

Bottom line: Despite GM Elgin Baylor’s protestations, Smith may be available.

Until now, the Clippers’ calls have been relatively simple: Do we want this great college star or that one? Can we find a sucker to take Benoit Benjamin off our hands?

Now they’re at the point where their No. 1 picks no longer figure to crack the rotation. Now they have to make the pieces fit.

On the other hand, ask Donald Sterling if it doesn’t beat lottery parties.

MEANWHILE, ACROSS TOWN:

Jerry West would love to have Baylor’s problems.

If West doesn’t get a marquee player, it won’t be for lack of trying, or because Teams Don’t Want to Deal with the Lakers.

He simply doesn’t have much to work with.

His roster is thin. Aside from Vlade Divac and A.C. Green, his quality players are all 30-something. End-of-the-year injuries and $3-million salaries make James Worthy and Sam Perkins unsalable. Divac’s new $23-million contract and poor series against Portland don’t make him a red-hot bargaining chip, either.

HAROLD AND TRACY

Let’s see if we can rise above the usual level of discourse, wherein the college writers say the kid should stay in school and the pro writers say he should come out.

What’s at stake?

USC’s Harold Miner and UCLA’s Tracy Murray are both looking at $5-million contracts.

Miner is projected anywhere from the fifth pick, which could get him up to $1.5 million a year, to the 10th, where he would be looking at about $1.25 million.

Murray is projected from No. 7 to No. 15. Assuming the worst, he can still figure on $1 million a year.

Neither is a case of a kid being hornswoggled by some agent with hot breath, who forsakes his eligibility and gets drafted halfway down the second round.

There is one all-important thing for both to remember: After you have bought yourself a car and a townhouse in the Marina, put the rest in the bank!

Not into vineyards, mini-malls, loans to your friends and especially your agent’s pet project. You don’t want to hear this, but there’s no assurance you’ll make it big in the NBA or even outlast your first contract. As long as you hang onto the money, no step is irreversible. You can always go back to school.

Are they risking their basketball development?

Sure.

On the other hand, they’re not freshmen, who should never leave early (or play varsity ball for that matter), or sophomores, but juniors.

One more college season probably wouldn’t do a whole lot for Miner’s shot selection. George Raveling would still give him the ball and a green light. One more season might have meant more for Murray, whose all-around game doesn’t yet match his fabulous shooting.

What will count is their maturity. The players who make it are the ones levelheaded enough to realize they don’t have all the answers and smart enough to learn from experience.

The ones who become superstars are like Magic Johnson, who spent every summer trying to add something to his game.

Johnson, of course, came out after his sophomore year.

‘IT WAS TIME TO LEAVE’:

Past time, really.

Chuck Daly said that and little more, explaining his decision to leave the Detroit Pistons.

Most of his players showed up at his restaurant (never pass up a promotional angle, eh Chuckles?) to hear the announcement. Give him that: There aren’t many coaches who leave after nine years with the roster still behind them.

It was time, all right. The Pistons and Daly had gone as far as they could and now must follow their separate destinies.

They’re sinking.

He’s a hot property.

Daly was a career afterthought, the high school coach from little Punxatawney, Pa., most famous for its groundhog, who wangled a job on the Duke staff in the ‘60s by writing a letter.

He followed the beloved Bob Cousy at Boston College and as Penn coach walked an outsider’s lonely path in Philadelphia’s inbred Big 5. His first NBA head job lasted 41 games (9-32), courtesy of Cleveland’s Mad Ted Stepien. He lived the entire time in the Richfield, Ohio, Holiday Inn.

Nor did the Pistons represent a wondrous opportunity, merely a chance to work again. They hadn’t been in the playoffs in eight years, but in nine seasons under him, they never missed.

He turned an awkward center named Bill Laimbeer and a misplaced linebacker named Rick Mahorn into “The Bad Boys” and overturned the ruling Celtic-Laker axis. The Pistons were to basketball what an earthquake is to a ballet company, but they worked with what they had, within the rules, such as they are.

Daly got big but never lost his appreciation for his players. He even got along with Mark Aguirre, who might have teed off Gandhi.

For all of you who have overpaid your dues, here’s your patron saint.

FACES AND FIGURES:

Son of Bad Boys: In case you can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys in the Bulls-Knicks series, Bill Laimbeer is rooting for the Knicks. After the Pistons lost Game 5 at New York, he congratulated New York players and urged them to beat the Bulls. Laimbeer said later: “If they’re allowed to play that way (physically), I think they’ll beat Chicago. You’ll hear the Chicago people whining in the papers about it’s not good basketball, but they can’t blame the Pistons this time.” . . . Sure enough, on the very first possession in Game 1, Chicago’s Bill Cartwright went in for a layup and was laid out by New York’s Charles Oakley, who was called for a flagrant foul. . . . Goodby, myth of invulnerability: In case you hadn’t noticed, the Bulls are in big trouble in this series. Their bench has been unmasked: It consists of one smurf, B.J. Armstrong. Cartwright looks old and used up. Scottie Pippen looks less like this season’s superstar, more like the guy who got a migraine in the big game two years ago. . . . Who does that leave? Michael Jordan. It wasn’t a good sign when Mike went for 45 a game in the first-round series against Miami, but Coach Phil Jackson, who had insisted on a balanced offense in the past, ducked the issue this time. . . . “Chicago has balance only when they’re playing well,” said Knick forward Xavier McDaniel. “When they get in trouble, then Jordan takes over. When you’re blowing people out, you always have balance because Michael can sit back. But if it’s a close game, just like that third game against the Heat, all of a sudden it’s the Michael Jordan Show.”

Meanwhile back on the Titanic: Piston General Manager Jack McCloskey, angered that he now must report to CEO Tom Wilson, threatened briefly to quit. McCloskey is still getting heat for signing Orlando Woolridge to a $5-million extension after stonewalling Vinnie Johnson and James Edwards. . . . McCloskey wants to make Ron Rothstein coach, but the players are lobbying for current assistants, Brendan Suhr or Brendan Malone. Rothstein, overmatched in Miami, ought to get down on his knees and pray he doesn’t get this job. John Wooden couldn’t work with this mess.

Sacramento has asked the Lakers for permission to interview assistant coach Randy Pfund. Pfund turned down a big-money offer from the Knicks last season to remain a Laker. . . . Interestingly, Milwaukee has not asked permission to speak to Mike Dunleavy, despite months of rumors that Buck owner Herb Kohl wanted him back. . . . Orlando player personnel director John Gabriel on Harold Miner: “If athleticism is a key ingredient, this kid is a notch above. He’s special.”

Amid new reports he will be fired, New Jersey’s besieged Bill Fitch says he talked to one of the owners about the length of a new contract: “Anywhere from three days to five years.” . . . Kareem-Abdul Chief: 38-year-old Robert Parrish had four points, three rebounds in Boston’s Game 1 loss to the Cavaliers, 27 and 8 in the Game 2 victory. “People say Chief is an old man,” Kevin McHale said. “Chief’s a hell of a basketball player, is what he is. He’s a great man. He sat here and answered every question about whether he was too old and Brad Daugherty was too good. Then he went out and let his performance speak for him.” . . . That’s all he needed: Charles Barkley is endorsing Bill Clinton. Said Charles: “He’s been judged on a lot of things that weren’t really important. I can relate to that.”