Miner Didn’t Realize Heat Would Be On Like This : NBA draft: USC star waits longer than expected before Miami makes him the 12th overall selection. UCLA’s Murray goes to San Antonio, Pepperdine’s Christie to Seattle.

Look hard enough and you might have seen little beads of sweat forming on the shaved scalp of Harold Miner as he waited . . . and waited . . . and waited until the Miami Heat ended his misery by taking the USC All-American guard with the 12th pick of Wednesday’s NBA draft.

Miner wasn’t summoned to the Portland Memorial Coliseum stage for the perfunctory photo, handshake and forced smile session with NBA Commissioner David Stern until nearly an hour after the Orlando Magic had made Louisiana State center Shaquille O’Neal the first choice of the proceedings. By then, it was obvious that concerns about Miner’s size (6-3 1/2, rather than his USC media guide listing of 6-5) and questions about his overall game had scared off many of those general managers with early selections.

“I was very surprised that I slipped so much in the draft,” said Miner, who was projected as a top five pick shortly after his announcement to forgo his senior year. “But you have to be prepared to deal with the circumstances. I don’t second-guess my decision in any way because I thought it was the right decision to make and I did it.”

Miner wasn’t the only local star who had to cool his heels. Pepperdine guard Doug Christie was the 17th choice of the first round, courtesy of the Seattle SuperSonics. Minutes later, UCLA’s Tracy Murray was chosen by San Antonio with the 18th pick.

Of course, Murray shouldn’t grow too fond of that Spurs cap he wore as he posed with Stern. Murray, who also left school a season early, is rumored headed to Milwaukee for veteran Dale Ellis.

Bruin teammate Don MacLean, who was projected anywhere from a high-teens to low-20s pick, went next to the Detroit Pistons. So iffy was his draft-day standing, that the 6-9 forward didn’t even bother making the trip to Portland.

Maybe MacLean knew something. By mid-evening, the Pistons traded his rights and center William Bedford to the Clippers for Olden Polynice and two future second-round picks.

One player not going anywhere is O’Neal, who happily held up an Orlando Magic jersey for all to see. Now all the Magic management has to do is find a way to pay the 20-year-old O’Neal, keep second-year center (and former LSU teammate) Stanley Roberts and stay under the salary cap. At last check, the starting price was about $5 million a year for O’Neal’s services.

“Patience is the best virtue,” said the suddenly philosophical O’Neal in a nationally televised post-draft interview.

O’Neal can afford to be patient. He already has signed $4.5-million worth of endorsements.

The next five picks went as generally predicted: Georgetown center Alonzo Mourning to Charlotte; Duke forward Christian Laettner to Minnesota; Ohio State guard Jim Jackson to Dallas, who earlier sent veteran guard Rolando Blackman to New York for the Knicks’ first-round pick in 1995; Notre Dame power forward LaPhonso Ellis to the Denver Nuggets and North Carolina State forward Tom Gugliotta to Washington.

Then it got interesting. The Sacramento Kings, who coveted Stanford’s Adam Keefe, suddenly found themselves able to choose among the Cardinal forward, Maryland guard Walt Williams and Arkansas swingman Todd Day. They took Williams, which allowed Milwaukee to take Day with the No. 8 choice.

The Bucks, now led by former Laker coach Mike Dunleavy, were busy Wednesday. Aside from taking Day, Milwaukee dealt underrated veteran guard Jay Humphries and forward Larry Krystkowiak to Utah for guard Blue Edwards, 1991 first-round pick Eric Murdock and the Jazz’s 1992 first-round selection, which they used to take Arkansas guard Lee Mayberry. Thus, Dunleavy injected some much-needed youth into the Buck roster and Utah received some valuable back-up help, especially for all-star guard John Stockton.

Philadelphia took Southern Mississippi’s Clarence Weatherspoon, a 6-5, 252-pound admirer of former 76er Charles Barkley.

“Charles was always my idol,” Weatherspoon told TNT.

As fate would have it, Barkley and Weatherspoon came across each other in the Philadelphia airport last week. Weatherspoon had just completed his interview with 76er management and Barkley was returning from court proceedings in Milwaukee, where he had also learned of being traded to the Phoenix Suns.

The Atlanta Hawks, after taking just about every second of their allotted five minutes, decided on Keefe. The Houston Rockets, in the first real surprise of the draft, selected Alabama forward Robert Horry. That left Miner available for Miami.

“I was very surprised because I haven’t talked to any of the Heat people,” Miner said.

Denver next selected Virginia guard Bryant Stith, the MVP in one of several NBA pre-draft camps. Indiana, choosing 14th, picked St. John’s swingman Malik Sealy, who led the Big East Conference in scoring last season.

The Lakers then took a chance on troubled but ultra-talented Missouri star Anthony Peeler, while the Clippers went with La Salle guard Randy Woods, an exciting scorer.

Christie was taken by the SuperSonics with the 17th pick, followed by San Antonio’s selection of Murray, who should be a Milwaukee Buck by July 1.

Of course, this isn’t what Murray has in mind.

“I hope I am able to become a San Antonio Spur,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to playing with all the guys there and I’m also looking forward to working with Coach (Jerry) Tarkanian.”

MacLean became a Piston--and later a Clipper--shortly thereafter. The Knicks took North Carolina shooting guard Hubert Davis and the Boston Celtics chose Georgia Tech guard Jon Barry. Barry’s selection was especially curious, given the Celtics’ depth at the guard position.

The Phoenix Suns picked Arkansas’ rotund center Oliver Miller. Milwaukee took Mayberry and Golden State, with the 24th choice, took Georgia guard Latrell Sprewell.

The Clippers went with UNLV center Elmore Spencer and Portland used the 26th pick on Syracuse swingman Dave Johnson.

The first round ended when the Chicago Bulls selected forward Byron Houston of Oklahoma State.

Among the second-round selections were Arizona forward Sean Rooks and USC guard Duane Cooper. Rooks, a product of Fontana High, was selected by Dallas, and Cooper was taken by the Lakers.

The Other Trades

The Milwaukee Bucks traded guard Jay Humphries and forward Larry Krystkowiak to the Utah Jazz for forward Blue Edwards, guard Eric Murdock and the Jazz’s first-round pick in this year’s draft.

The New York Knicks acquired guard Rolando Blackman from the Dallas Mavericks for a 1995 first-round draft pick.

The Second Round

No., Team Player Pos. School 28. Minnesota Marlon Maxey F Texas El Paso 29. New Jersey P.J. Brown C Louisiana Tech 30. Dallas Sean Rooks F Arizona 31. Portland Reggie Smith F Texas Christian 32. Washington Brent Price G Oklahoma 33. Chicago Corey Williams G Oklahoma State 34. Minnesota Chris Smith G Connecticut 35. Charlotte Tony Bennett G Wisconsin Green Bay 36. Lakers Duane Cooper G USC 37. Miami Isaiah Morris F Arkansas 38. Atlanta Elmer Bennett G Notre Dame 39. Chicago Litterial Green G Georgia 40. New Jersey Steve Rogers G Alabama State 41. Houston Popeye Jones F Murray State 42. Miami Matt Geiger C Georgia Tech 43. Golden State Predrag Danilovic F Belgrade 44. San Antonio Henry Williams G North Carolina Charlotte 45. Seattle Chris King F Wake Forest 46. Denver Robert Werdann C St. John’s. 47. Boston Darren Morningstar C Pittsburgh 48. Phoenix Brian Davis F Duke 49. Phoenix Ron Ellis F Louisiana Tech 50. Golden State Matt Fish C North Carolina Wilmington 51. Minnesota Tim Burroughs F Jacksonville 52. Chicago Matt Steigenga F Michigan State 53. Houston Curtis Blair G Richmond 54. Sacramento Brett Roberts F Morehead State