An Uplifting Experience Helps Harper : Clippers: He bulks up during the summer with an eye to adding inside game to his open-court offense.

The legs are still sleek and devoid of much muscle definition, belying an explosive leaping ability. But look to the chest and shoulders and notice the difference. The upper body looks like a “V.”

Welcome to Ron Harper’s off-season.

Three days a week during the summer he worked in the weight room, often with Jim Jackson, a friend and 1992 lottery pick by Dallas. Sometimes the workouts were at Ohio State, where Jackson starred, sometimes at Harper’s home in suburban Cleveland.

The idea was a new look. Bulk. He is stronger and talking of posting up more.

Harper already was a great open-court player, and although he has shot only 39.1% and 44% in two full seasons since being traded from Cleveland, he has averaged 19.5 points.

Only Chris Mullin, with 3,346 minutes, Tim Hardaway (3,332), Joe Dumars (3,192), Scottie Pippen (3,164) and Patrick Ewing (3,150) played more than minutes last season than Harper, who had 3,144. And none of those others had undergone reconstructive knee surgery 2 1/2 seasons earlier.

Harper’s minutes led the Clippers last season and were a personal high for him.

“It means the leg is strong,” he said. “That leg can definitely take a pounding. It let everybody know I’m coming back as the same guy I was before.

“I’ll be 100% at the end of training camp.”

But Harper acknowledges that his recovery is not complete. Three more weeks won’t change things, either.

“I still do have some (concerns),” he said. “I’m not going to lie. There are times where I can’t make a move and times where I can’t make the same move.”

But he is vastly improved.

“I think he looks better physically,” Coach Larry Brown says. “When I got here last year (in midseason), he was great. But they tell me that a year ago (at camp), he was really dragging at times.

“I can’t go by that because I was not here. But I see in practice that he is doing the things he did before the injury. I’m real encouraged.”

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The Clippers open exhibition play tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Richfield, Ohio, and then will play the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday at Green Bay, Wis., before returning for two games at the Sports Arena. With seven new players, Coach Larry Brown plans to try several combinations in an attempt to find the best lineup.

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Stanley Roberts is expected to play in short stints, but John Williams probably will sit out the first four games. Brown said he pleased with the effort of both as they work to lose weight.

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It’s been a tough start for Loy Vaught, the backup power forward who continues to have trouble picking up the offenses. And he hears about it. “I’m on Loy because he doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Brown said. “He is trying, but like a lot of the young guys in camp, he needs teaching. It’s not all on him. It’s the coaching. And I think when you get on a player, (if) you don’t say anything (it’s) because you don’t care.” . . . The first cuts will probably be made early next week. Four are needed by opening night.