THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : Miner Seems to Be Sinking in Deep Draft

I love this game: It’s draft time, when your beleaguered Lakers and upwardly mobile Clippers try to fill a hole or two.

This is considered the best class since 1984 with Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, Otis Thorpe, Sam Perkins, Alvin Robertson and Sam Bowie.

The first local player to go?

USC’s Harold Miner, once considered the fifth-best player in the draft, has slipped but should go by No. 12 to Miami.

Pepperdine’s Doug Christie is climbing. Look for the Lakers to take him at No. 15.

UCLA’s Tracy Murray has a chance to go in the lottery but figures to go in the teens.

His teammate, Don MacLean, figures to go in the teens or 20s.

Here’s how it will go, approximately:

1. Orlando--Shaquille O’Neal, 7 feet, 303 pounds, Louisiana State.

2. Charlotte--Alonzo Mourning, 6-10, 249, Georgetown.

3. Minnesota--Christian Laettner, 6-10, 239, Duke.

4. Dallas--Jim Jackson, 6-4, 220, Ohio State.

5. Denver--LaPhonso Ellis, 6-8, 234, Notre Dame. Here’s where it gets tricky. Several teams like Adam Keefe here and are trying to trade for this pick. The Nuggets like Ellis, whom they could get at No. 7, so they’re trying to trade down. We’ll figure that Denver can’t make a deal and takes the guy it likes. Ellis is an unpolished, smallish power forward who made a big late move, with teams, as usual, gravitating to size and athleticism.

6. Washington--Tom Gugliotta, 6-8, 240, North Carolina State.

7. Sacramento--Keefe, 6-9, 241, Stanford. General Manager Jerry Reynolds will be ecstatic if this happens. Otherwise, he’ll take Ellis.

8. Milwaukee--Walt Williams, 6-6, 227, Maryland.

9. Philadelphia--Clarence Weatherspoon, 6-5, 252, Southern Mississippi.

10. Atlanta--Todd Day, 6-7, 190, Arkansas.

11. Houston--Bryant Stith, 6-5, 214, Virginia.

12. Miami--Miner, 6-4, 220, USC. The Heat is holding its breath, hoping Miner lasts this long.

13. Denver (from New Jersey for Terry Mills)--Robert Horry, 6-8, 215, Alabama.

14. Indiana--Malik Sealy, 6-6, 192, St. John’s.

15. Lakers--Christie, 6-6, 212, Pepperdine. They would like a 6-8 point guard, but those come along once a century and they have already had theirs. The alternative is an athletic multi-position player who can beat a defender off the dribble. An Eastern Conference personnel director compares Christie to Scottie Pippen in size, fluidity and all-around ability. The problem is Christie’s surgically repaired knee, considered the biggest medical question mark at the Chicago pre-draft camp. If the Lakers don’t like his knee, look for them to take Anthony Peeler of Missouri.

16. Clippers--Elmore Spencer, UNLV, 6-11, 290. If Charles Smith won’t play center, someone will have to.

17. Seattle--Peeler, 6-3, 212, Missouri.

18. San Antonio--Murray, 6-6, 228, UCLA. If the Spurs don’t trade this pick to Milwaukee for Dale Ellis.

19. Detroit--Marlon Maxey, 6-8, 255, Texas El Paso.

20. New York--Hubert Davis, 6-3, 182, North Carolina.

21. Boston--P.J. Brown, 6-10, 225, Louisiana Tech.

22. Phoenix--Darrin Morningstar, 6-11, 241, Pittsburgh. Considered a second-rounder, but after the Barkley deal, the Suns need a complementary-type power forward.

23. Utah--MacLean, 6-9, 229, UCLA. Good spot for him, too.

24. Golden State--Sean Rooks, 6-10, 254, Arizona.

25. Clippers--Lee Mayberry, 6-1, 180, Arkansas. Nice prospect for this low in the draft.

26. Portland--Randy Woods, 5-11, 185, La Salle.

27. Chicago--Jon Barry, 6-4, 191, Georgia Tech. Rick’s son and fellow long-range bomber.

This leaves a nice bunch of prospects for the second round, including Syracuse’s 6-5 Dave Johnson, Arkansas’ 6-7 Oliver Miller, Oklahoma’s 6-0 Brent Price, Georgia’s 6-1 Litterial Green, Alabama’s 6-4 Latrell Sprewell, Oklahoma State’s 6-4 Byron Houston, Murray State’s 6-8 Popeye Jones, Loyola Marymount’s 6-2 Terrell Lowery and USC’s 6-1 Duane Cooper. Figure six of them would be first-rounders in a normal year.

The Lakers will get a shot at one with their 36th pick, compensation from Milwaukee for Coach Mike Dunleavy. Call it a going-away gift, the last bequest of their star-crossed ‘91-92 season.

HAIL, MIKE (AND SUPPORTING CAST):

OK, the Bulls won consecutive titles and suggested they are plenty good enough to win a third.

But let’s hold this greatest-team talk.

Can you imagine matching Bill Cartwright against Wilt Chamberlain of the ’67 76ers and ’72 Lakers?

Not if you value Cartwright’s head, you couldn’t.

How about Scott Williams vs. Billy Cunningham of the ’67 76ers?

John Paxson vs. Gail Goodrich of the ’72 Lakers?

Horace Grant vs. Luke Jackson of the ’67 76ers?

What the Bulls’ run really suggests is just how other-worldly Michael Jordan is.

“He’s the best there ever was,” says Doug Moe, new 76er coach.

“Larry Bird was absolutely sensational in his period of time. Magic Johnson was sensational in his period of time. But no one else has taken a garbage team to a championship.

“All those guys had some players with them. Michael does it all.

“Scottie Pippen is a nice player, but if he were on another team, you’d be saying he was a soft player. Jordan made him. Horace Grant, who complains about Jordan not showing up, does a nice job. But all those guys--Cartwright and Paxson--are basically stiffs who are washed up, nobody to speak about. Jordan has carried a stiff team to championships two years in a row.

“I don’t think Magic could have done it. I don’t think Bird could have done it. Wilt Chamberlain had the talent, but he didn’t have the desire to win.”

Don’t stay away so long next time, Doug.

THE SUNS RISE

Forget about whether the Suns or 76ers got the better of their Barkley deal.

It was a reasonable trade that both teams needed.

The Suns had gone as far as they were going to with their nucleus. If they were content to win 50 games a year and sell out their new arena, it would have been fine. Moving up meant rolling the dice for the kind of great player who rarely comes on the market. Congratulations, Jerry Colangelo.

The 76ers long ago went as far as they were going to with Barkley. If you think the package they got was modest, think what they would have gotten had they held on to their squalling superstar for another tortured season. They could have taken the easy way out and waited to see how Barkley and Moe got along but they stepped up. Congratulations, Jimmy Lynam.

For a hint as to why the 76ers reached the second round of the playoffs only once with their Hall-of-Famer-to-be, Barkley immediately began trying to defuse expectations.

“The only thing I know is, I can’t play as well as I used to, and I hope there aren’t going to be any great expectations on me,” he said.

“It’s not fair to ask me to play like three players.”

Actually, Philadelphia guys say that for one season, at least, Barkley will be on his best behavior and play like a demon to prove he wasn’t the problem.

In character to the end, Barkley blasted the 76ers for shopping him insensitively, forgetting that he welcomed their initiative and rejoiced in mid-season at the prospect of becoming a Laker.

“Abraham Lincoln freed us a long time ago,” Barkley said. “It was almost like, ‘Here’s our stud, give me your highest bid.’ ”

Barkley makes $3.2 million a year.

If that’s slavery, where can I sign up for indentured servitude?

FACES AND FIGURES

Cover boy for family values: Christian Laettner, already a media go-to guy, on his perceived unsuitability for power forward: “People say I don’t look like a convict or the criminal next door.” . . . Players no general manager will want to admit passing up include Jim Jackson, Adam Keefe, Doug Christie, Robert Horry, Hubert Davis, Randy Woods, Terrell Lowery and Latrell Sprewell.

We’re not falling into that trap again, or tell ‘em to block out the tee times in Hilton Head: Phil Jackson, vowing the Bulls won’t visit the White House this time: “The way things are going in D.C., they may want to be associated with a winner.”

Highlights from the Bulls’ victory rally: Bob Hansen, who made two key plays in the fourth quarter two days before, had to produce identification to get in. Will (1-900-BENCHWARMER) Perdue read a poem: “The first time was neat/the second time it was one hell of a feat/and I had a great seat.”