THE NBA /MARK HEISLER : A Weak Draft Might Get Stronger

General managers aren’t supposed to discuss it, so presumably I’m not supposed to write about it and you’re not supposed to read about it.

But just in case, you’re feeling rebellious, let’s talk. . . .

Undergraduates .

NBA scouts expect what was supposed to be the weakest draft in years to be reinforced by four hot undergrads.

In rough order of interest they are:

Chris Webber, Michigan--Opinion is divided on the 6-foot-10 sophomore between people who love him and people who are afraid he’s headstrong, but everyone agrees he’s a physical prodigy.

“A mini-Shaquille O’Neal,” says one general manager.

Says another general manager: “To me, he looks like he thinks he knows more than he does.”

Says Magic Johnson, whose Olympians scrimmaged Webber and other top college stars last summer: “He’ll be a better pro than a college player because he can use all his athletic ability. He has so much. Just like Karl Malone made the power forward different, he’s going to do the same.”

Jamaal Mashburn, Kentucky--Figure this 6-7, 250-pound junior is really 6-6 or 6-5, but one general manager says he will be more like Larry Johnson than Clarence Weatherspoon. Some even have him ahead of Webber.

Anfernee Hardaway, Memphis State--And some like this 6-7 third-year sophomore better than Webber or Mashburn.

Among the boosters of this latest in the series of “next Magic Johnsons” is Johnson. “He’s going to be super,” Johnson says. “He’s very smart.”

Rodney Rogers, Wake Forest--The 6-6, 240-pound junior is off to a slow start this season and is a step behind the big three but still figures for the lottery.

“He has better post moves than Mashburn,” Johnson says. “He’s a real post guy. He’s a good find.”

THE SUNS ON A ROLL:

(A QUESTION ALSO RISES)

These are are heady days in the desert, with the Phoenix Suns’ new state-of-the-art America West Arena, their new superstar, Charles Barkley and their new 14-game winning streak.

They won most of them without No. 2 superstar Kevin Johnson.

They drew 19,000 and turned away 4,000--for a practice .

Here’s the key question: If they are this good without Johnson, how good will they be when he’s healthy?

Not everyone was eager to find out right away.

Barkley argued against bringing Johnson back while the streak was going. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Barkley said.

NBC’s Bill Walton argued for immediately trading the former franchise.

Said Johnson: “I know some people have some negative thoughts about what my return might do to this team. They question whether I’ll disrupt things. . . . Well, I know I can help this team.”

Said Coach Paul Westphal, opting for lucidity: “I don’t believe in psychiatrists, but those people need some help.”

BABY JORDAN

(ARRIVES BY STORK)

After he kept Harold Miner out of consecutive games Dec. 19-21, Miami Coach Kevin Loughery said:

“Harold isn’t there yet.”

After Miner scored 10 points in 19 minutes in the next game against Utah, Loughery said:

“Harold’s almost there.”

After Miner scored 19 in a victory over the Magic and 18 while taking over in crunch time in the victory over the Lakers, Loughery said:

“It was just a matter of time.”

In truth, Miner had some disconcerting habits. He wasn’t great at running the floor or any other kind of movement without the ball, and when he got it, he liked to look around at his leisure before going one-on-one.

Right, just like Inglewood High and USC.

“I had always played the same game since high school,” Miner said. “Basically, it was just give me the ball, clear the floor and let me go. That’s not the way it is here.”

URBAN STORM (CONT.)

Pat Riley, a devotee of collecting insults to psych up his team, warmed up for his Christmas matchup with the Chicago Bulls, claiming they didn’t respect his New York Knicks.

Actually, it was more than disrespect.

More like loathing.

In Chicago, Bulls’ Coach Phil Jackson, who has let Riley get under his skin, pooh-poohed the Knicks and all but accused them of desecrating the holiday.

Said Jackson: “They’ve got Patrick (Ewing) who is what, 30? And Rolando Blackman who’s 33 or whatever. They’re players with a lot of habits, an accumulation of personal failure.”

And:

“Christmas is always a family day. It’s a giving day, a holy day for Christians and a meaningful day of peace and light and a celebration of life. To mar it with a game in which you have to come out and fight with guys who are going to foul you on every possession turns it into something else. We’re not going to be able to enjoy this game.”

If they didn’t enjoy it, at least the Bulls won it, tying the season series, 1-1.

Stay tuned for the third game, when presumably the fate of western civilization will hang in the balance.

FACES AND FIGURES

There goes his career as a scout: Malone says Shaquille O’Neal “ain’t no different than any other guy I see. He’s OK, but so are a lot of other guys in this league. I guess I’m just a hard guy to please.” . . . Paul Westphal, whose Suns went 14-0 in December, making him a cinch for coach of the month: “You see what it did for Mike Dunleavy.” . . . The Suns, with a history of sharp No. 2 picks (Cedric Ceballos, Negele Knight), have unveiled 6-7 Richard Dumas, who left Oklahoma State under a cloud, then failed a random drug test after they drafted him in 1991. He cleaned up with John Lucas’ Miami Tropics and burned up the Southern California summer league, where his 37-point average was 10 better than the runner-up. He has 87 points in 120 NBA minutes. . . . He’s kidding, he’s kidding (isn’t he?): Barkley to a Phoenix writer on his way to talk to Dumas: “Hey, let’s get one thing straight. Even when I play . . . you come to me first.”

Those were the days, my friend but believe this, they are over: The Boston Celtics went 0-4 on their first winless West Coast trip since 1979, or before Larry Bird. Included was a loss to the Sacramento Kings, who hadn’t beaten them in six years. Said Sacramento’s Kurt Rambis: “It’s so hard to see them without DJ (Dennis Johnson), without a healthy Kevin McHale, without a spry Robert Parish and of course, without Bird. It’s not the same as in the ‘80s when we had so much fun banging our heads together.”

Injury of the week: Celtic reserve Marcus Webb broke a thumb cracking his knuckles on the bench. . . . Rites of winter: The Indiana Pacers are again dogging Rik Smits. “We keep feeding him, hoping that some day he’ll realize he’s the man in the middle,” Reggie Miller said. “You keep hoping, that’s all you can do. Hoping that one day he’ll wake up and produce the way you want him to. Det (Schrempf) and I can only do so much. If (Smits) isn’t going to score, he might as well set a screen and get my man off me.”

Chemistry, it has to be overrated: Michael Jordan, after heretofore-invisible Horace Grant scored 70 points in three games as the Bulls won four in a row: “He’s playing very well. He’s getting quite a few shots, so he should stop complaining.”

Eyebrows went up when Buck Coach Dunleavy blew off his team’s game in Orlando to scout Michigan, Kansas and North Carolina in the Aloha Classic. Likely upshot: Dunleavy, now handling both jobs, will hire a general manager next summer. Possibilities include his friend, Laker assistant general manager Mitch Kupchak. . . . Denver’s Dan Issel after losing by 41 points at Phoenix: “I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it’s the worst I’ve seen any team play. Someplace in professional basketball, sometime, someone has played worse.”

Speak of the devil: The same night, Dallas lost by 58 at Sacramento. . . . The Golden State Warriors were 6-11 when Billy Owens went out with a knee injury, 9-2 since, amid speculation Owens and Tim Hardaway have problems. The Warriors asked the Pacers if they were interested in Owens for Schrempf. The Pacers said no. . . . Atlanta Hawk President Stan Kasten, responding to charges the front office doesn’t care about improving the moribund team: “We have a coach (Bob Weiss) and a GM (Pete Babcock) who give the perception they don’t work very hard. They happen to be laid-back guys.” . . . Miami’s Rony Seikaly, asked if he would play against the Lakers after being accused of “Shaq-itis” for sitting out against Orlando: “I don’t know. Maybe I have Divac-itis.”