THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : Webber Makes Warriors Draft Day’s Big Winners

What’s a draft without a post-mortem?

Winner--Don Nelson, Golden State.

Nelson feels like running through Alpine meadows and singing like Julie Andrews in “The Sound of Music.” For years, everyone told him he had to get a big man, but he held out for doing it his way. He refused to mess with question marks like Stanley Roberts. A year ago, he was hoping to pick up Luc Longley. Now he has Chris Webber.

All you hear about is what Webber can’t do: no moves, no shot, bad free throws, calls a timeout when he doesn’t have one. Take a look at this guy. He’s a huge 6 feet 9, with shoulders that barely fit in a doorway, an incredible reach, huge hands and an intimidating attitude. This is a meat-eater. And he’s only 20.

Said Seattle’s George Karl, speaking for the rest of the Pacific Division: “It’s a great trade for the Warriors. Two years ago they won 55 games. They’ll have all their injured guys back and they add Webber. Three first-round draft choices? It’ll be three years before they even lose one of them. Who knows if there will even be a draft by 1998 or 2000? I’m sure Nelly’s not too worried about those draft choices. Where will any of us be?”

Loser--Washington Bullets.

When are these poor schleps going to get a break?

They keep picking just far enough down to miss the big guys. In this draft, there was a falloff after Webber and Shawn Bradley, another after Anfernee Hardaway and Jamal Mashburn and a big one after J.R. Rider. That was where the Bullets sat, in Calbert Cheaney Land. Until I see differently, Cheaney is just another Bobby Knight overachiever.

Wait and see--Orlando Magic.

They have the center and the point guard of the ‘90s and 11 No. 1 picks in seven years, all middle- or low-round choices.

Consolation prizes--Lakers and Clippers.

They needed something zany to happen, but whatever surprises there were weren’t pleasant. Detroit took Lindsey Hunter, whom the Lakers would have loved. Then the Pistons took Allan Houston, whom the Lakers wanted to package with Elden Campbell for Milwaukee pick Vin Baker.

Houston would have been perfect for the Clippers, too.

The choices, George Lynch by the Lakers and Terry Dehere by the Clippers, were solid if unexciting.

Lynch is a marginally sized, high-character type from the greatest NBA feeder program. He has a reputation for not being able to shoot at all, but when you’re down in question-mark country in the draft, it’s nice to bet on character. Whatever Lynch has is what the Lakers are going to get.

The athletic Dehere is known as a streak shooter, but he made 39% from three-point range in his college career, so that’s a start.

Best long shot--Gheorghe Muresan by the Bullets with the third pick of the second round.

It’s amazing how skittish NBA teams are about European players. Remember when Vlade Divac was supposed to go in the top 12 and the Lakers got him at 26?

Muresan is a 7-7 Romanian, signed for another year with a French team, but he’s supposed to have decent skills. He flunked a physical at Barcelona, further spooking NBA teams, but the Portland Trail Blazers flew him in and found he had only an overactive pituitary, a condition that can be treated. A bunch of teams low in the first round or high in the second should have pulled the trigger on this guy.

BROTHERLY LOVE NO LONGER APPLIES

The Orlando-Golden State negotiations were as thorny as any have ever been, involving the 76ers, too.

Magic General Manager Pat Williams and personnel director John Gabriel came from the Philadelphia front office, where they were friends with Jimmy Lynam, now 76er general manager, but everyone played this one for keeps.

First, the Magic tried to get the 76ers to take high-priced Dennis Scott off their hands for a promise not to draft Bradley.

Lynam called that bluff. He said he would be honored to accept Webber.

Then the Magic, focusing on Hardaway, tried to get the 76ers to commit to taking Bradley. If they had, Orlando would have traded troubled Brian Williams to the Warriors for useful Tyrone Hill, then flopped their first and third picks so Golden State could take Webber and the Magic could take Hardaway.

The 76ers not only wouldn’t commit to Bradley, they told the Magic if it took Bradley, they would take Hardaway.

Loath to call the 76ers’ bluff, the Magic did it the safe way, working out a deal, Webber for Hardaway plus three No. 1s, with Nelson. If Philly had taken Hardaway, the Magic would have kept Webber and the picks, and Nelson would simply have drafted Bradley.

Said Lynam after the smoke cleared: “We did what we had to do, let’s just put it that way.”

TURN DOWN LIGHTS, THE PARTY’S ENDING

The sound you heard was the door slamming in the Clippers’ face.

They almost signed Danny Manning to a five-year, $25-million deal, then saw the initiative collapse. As Manning had promised he would do for five years, he showed up in their offices Thursday morning, the day his contract expired, signed a one-year qualifying offer and began the countdown to free agency.

Players usually sign by fax, but Manning and his agent, Ron Grinker, wanted to make sure the Clippers got the point.

Grinker praised General Manager Elgin Baylor and Executive vice president Harley Frankel but said the other executive vice president, Andy Roeser, “blew the deal that we almost completed last week.”

It’s one more demonstration of the truth in Larry Brown’s house-divided speech.

The Clippers were so upset about Brown’s charge, they decreed that only Baylor would talk to the press, to show how united they were.

Of course, behind the scenes the bungling continued.

They wanted Lenny Wilkens, Wilkens wanted them, everyone took the weekend off and the Atlanta Hawks stole their coach. They wanted Manning, they came up with $25 million, he said he was close to signing, then see you later.

Roeser is the owner’s watchdog, in place to watch the purse strings, and is accountable to owner Donald T. Sterling, not Baylor. Sterling, who admits to no basketball expertise, presides over a cabinet of advisers accountable, not to Baylor, but to him. The front office is a committee that forever finds itself at the mercy of events.

Sterling’s solution is as simple as it has been all along: Find one man he has confidence in, give him sole power and get out of his way.

Of course, it’s getting late for the ‘90s. If Manning is history, so is the 20th Century in Clipperdom.

FACES AND FIGURES

Thanks a lot: Celtic No. 1 pick Acie Earl on his new team: “I thought a few other teams would draft me, but I’d rather be on a team that’s up-and-coming and doesn’t want to stay in the cellar.” . . . The Pistons drafted Lindsey Hunter after a lobbying effort by the man sardonically known as “Piston player-coach-general manager Isiah Thomas,” because of his relationship with owner Bob Davidson. “Since I’ve been in the league, (Hunter) is the only one to come in, aside from Tim Hardaway, who can do the things with the ball I can,” said Thomas, paying himself the usual compliment.

However, the Pistons are still trying to make the Dennis Rodman deal with Phoenix, hoping to send Hunter and Rodman to the Suns for Richard Dumas and Negele Knight. . . . The Mesa (Ariz.) Tribune reported that the Suns will sign free-agent center Chris Dudley, reducing their interest in A.C. Green. . . . Bradley’s agent, David Falk, says negotiations will start at $25.2 million over six years.

Decision-making process: The Magic talked to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who said how important a point guard was to a center and what Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson had meant to him. Also, Shaquille O’Neal, in Los Angeles to make a movie, played with Hardaway and placed a call from his car phone to the Magic’s front office, saying Hardaway was the real deal. . . . The Magic at first interviewed Hardaway as a formality and didn’t even pick him up at the airport. Hardaway hitched a ride to Orlando Arena with a TV crew. The team brought him back last week and fell in love with him. . . The Denver Nuggets believe they were close to trading their draft pick, Todd Lichti and Anthony Cook to the Trail Blazers for Buck Williams, but say it was knocked down by Portland owner Paul Allen.

Sun assistant Scotty Robertson told the Arizona Republic of the ultimate players’ organization: “It’s so funny. A lot of times Paul (Westphal) will be in the huddle in a timeout, drawing up something, and I’ll tap him on the shoulder and say ‘Hey, Paul, forget that,’ because Charles (Barkley) will already be standing on the free-throw line, paying no attention. Paul will look up, grinning, and say ‘OK, everybody do what Charles wants to do.’ It happened more than twice (during the finals) at Chicago. At times, Paul will be drawing some elaborate play and Charles will say, ‘ . . . that, get me the ball.’ This has happened a hundred times this year and it ain’t a bad idea.” . . . Seattle General Manager Bob Whitsitt, on the SuperSonic draft: “Not a bad day’s work, to get Ervin Johnson and Jordan on the second round.” That’s Adonis Jordan, of course.