THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : League Might Be Laboring to Keep Its Popularity

I love this game (anyway): This is the last week of this column, if not professional basketball as we know it, so we have a lot to cover.

State of the league--Despite the mud-wrestling finals, TV ratings falling to pre-Michael Jordan levels and the threat of a strike, the fundamentals remain solid.

Attendance is near 90% of capacity.

Franchise prices are skyrocketing. Toronto and Vancouver are coming in for $125 million. Someone offered $152 million for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Magic Johnson bought into the Lakers, assuming the value of the franchise at about $225 million--$57 million more than Financial World magazine estimated two months ago and $40 million more than any sports team has ever been sold for ($185 million for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles).

The league gets a tremendous marketing push from the NCAA tournament, which turns incoming rookies into stars before they arrive; from athletic shoe companies, whose commercials turn withdrawn young men like Alonzo Mourning into TV personalities; from the Olympics, which gives its players two weeks of star-spangled exposure.

But problems are mounting, some of them inevitable byproducts of prosperity, all of them demanding attention.

The game is slowing down.

The once-gregarious superstars are being replaced by a new crop of punks. Free-spirited powers such as the ‘80s Lakers and Boston Celtics are being replaced by walled-off programs run by control-freak coaches.

A year ago, if you had asked how the league was doing, the answer would have been: “Never been better.”

This spring it would be: “It’s been better.”

Labor relations--Never been worse.

The collective bargaining agreement has expired and the Players Assn. is showing its teeth at every turn.

The union just outflanked the league, getting a temporary restraining order that bars teams from signing players until Friday, when a judge may A) continue the freeze until a new labor contract is signed, B) throw out the salary cap and all the rules until a new contract is signed, or C) extend the current rules until a new contract is signed.

If it’s A or B, it’s a big victory for the players.

However, the owners might be so upset, they might refuse to open next season without a contract and lock the players out.

State of the Mike--There are growing indications that Jordan wants to return . . . but may have nothing to come back to.

Jerry Reinsdorf runs the Chicago Bulls as a hobby, but the Chicago White Sox are his real passion. He is a pariah in the NBA after suing the league to televise games on a superstation--he once joked that all league votes are 26-1--but a power in baseball, where he’s sometimes called the “shadow commissioner,” the real power behind Bud Selig.

Reinsdorf has gone from renting at Chicago Stadium to co-ownership of the new United Center, has a waiting list for season tickets, has leased his luxury boxes for five years and is reportedly unconcerned about the Bulls’ plight. They are expected to lose free agent Horace Grant and last week agreed to trade Scottie Pippen for Shawn Kemp until Seattle owner Barry Ackerley got spooked by SuperSonic fans’ angry reaction and pulled the plug.

At the draft, General Manager Jerry Krause told Bull fans the only Chicago uniform they would ever see Jordan in would have “White Sox” on it.

THEY MADE OUT IN THE DRAFT . . .

MILWAUKEE BUCKS--At worst, Glenn Robinson will be good, at best the next Larry Bird. Eric Mobley, an athletic 6-foot-10, 260-pound center, dropped to No. 18 when the Nets took their flyer on Yinka Dare and Don Nelson took on the Cliff Rozier headache. With 6-11 Vin Baker, Mike Dunleavy has a front line to build his franchise on.

DALLAS MAVERICKS--Jason Kidd and Tony Dumas join Jim Jackson and Jamal Mashburn to form a great young nucleus. The Mavericks still need big men, but their selection of Deon Thomas to start the second round was a surprise; the Illinois center measured only 6-7 1/2.

DETROIT PISTONS--This shows how important it is to lose enough at the right time. Their No. 3 pick lands the multi-talented, coachable, personable, could-be-awesome Grant Hill. With Lindsey Hunter, Allan Houston and Terry Mills, it’s suddenly a nice-looking rebuilding program.

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES--Donyell Marshall is a big-time prospect. Second-round pick Howard Eisley is a point guard who can shoot. They join “the Brat Pack,” Christian (Get Away From Me) Laettner and Isaiah (Can I Be Excused?) Rider.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS--Sharone Wright, 6-10 and 279, fits nicely with the 7-7 Shawn Bradley and 6-6, 240-pound Clarence Weatherspoon. B.J. Tyler is talented and second-rounder Derrick Alston, a 6-9 small forward, has a chance.

INDIANA PACERS--They turned the 15th pick into Mark Jackson, who was a fine player two seasons ago before last season’s Clipper depression, plus swing prospect Greg Minor.

UTAH JAZZ--They turned Jeff Malone and the 20th pick into Jeff Hornacek, a Brink’s job.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS--They aren’t smurfs anymore. Nelson gets the 6-10 Rozier and 6-10 Carlos Rogers to go with 6-10 Chris Webber without having to trade anyone who played significant minutes last season.

THEY HAD A GOOD DAY . . .

WASHINGTON BULLETS--Juwan Howard isn’t quite center size but can play there sometimes.

CLIPPERS--Lamond Murray and Eric Piatkowski are nice additions at small forward and big guard. Of course, the Clippers have free agents Dominique Wilkins and Ron Harper at those positions, suggesting that the old guys might be history and the team has begun rebuilding without telling anyone.

SACRAMENTO KINGS--Good-looking power forward Brian Grant is joined by second-round picks Michael Smith and Lawrence Funderburke, who could have gone in the first round.

MIAMI HEAT--They aren’t sure what to do about free agent Brian Shaw and they’re down on Harold Miner. Point guard Steve Smith needs a good ballhandler with him in the backcourt and that’s Khalid Reeves.

NEW YORK KNICKS--If Monty Williams is healthy, he’s a fine pick at 24. Charlie Ward, supposedly a bad shooter, worked on it all spring and improved dramatically.

PHOENIX SUNS--Sharpshooting Wesley Person, considered as high as the Celtics at No. 9, is a nice pick at 23.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS--They traded their No. 1 pick for Tyrone Hill, who gave them the nasty-type guy they had been looking for.

THEY WEREN’T QUITE AS LUCKY

LAKERS--Jerry West keeps trying to break out of the corner he’s in, but he couldn’t get a top pick for James Worthy in 1991 or 1992, nor for Vlade Divac this season. As baseball players say, swing hard in case you hit it. Eddie Jones is nice but West is looking for Magic Johnson’s successor.

BOSTON CELTICS--One day, they might look back on their Eric Montross pick and say this is where it all started. For the moment, they wanted someone more spectacular.

DENVER NUGGETS--They were dying for Jalen Rose to get to them and got their wish. Rose is a take-charge guy with a lot of ability but doesn’t have a jump shot and, though engaging, is headstrong. We’ll see what he’s about now.

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS--Aaron McKie, considered by some a better prospect than Jones, is a nice pick at 17 but has to wait his turn behind Clyde Drexler.

ORLANDO MAGIC--They were ripped last spring when they traded Webber for Anfernee Hardaway and three No. 1 picks, but it turned out to be the slickest move of the day. This season, though, they wasted one of those No. 1 picks on Anthony Avent, hoped for Ward to reach them at 27, then settled for a prospective backup point guard, Brooks Thompson of Oklahoma State.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS--They haven’t been able to find one good young player to go with David Robinson. This spring’s bet is hard-working, less-than-gifted Boston College center Bill Curley.

THEY SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME

SEATTLE SUPERSONICS--They passed on Pippen and traded Rogers for Sarunas Marciulionis, preserving their four-guard rotation in which everyone complains he doesn’t play enough. Their remaining draft picks are a teen-ager, Dontonio Wingfield, and a Serb, Zeljko Rebraca. Departed general manager Bob Whitsitt is looking better all the time.

BULLS--They almost got Kemp and the No. 11 pick. They settled for power forward prospect Dickey Simpkins. Krause insisted that the SuperSonics called them but it didn’t cut any ice with Pippen, who reportedly called Krause and screamed at him.

NEW JERSEY NETS--They passed up Piatkowski, a shooting guard they could have used, for Dare, who has a big up side but will require careful nurturing, if not outright prayer. Some organizations lack the stability for long-range projects and the Nets are high on the list.

ATLANTA HAWKS--Their first-round pick went to the Clippers in the Danny Manning deal. Manning gives every indication he’ll sign elsewhere and the Hawks are so scared, they took on Kenny Norman’s five-year, $14-million contract, even after that nightmare season Norman turned in at Milwaukee.

CHARLOTTE HORNETS--Their top pick went to Seattle in that Eddie Johnson-and-Dana Barros-for-Kendall Gill deal that was already one-sided.

HOUSTON ROCKETS--Their first-rounder went in a deal four years ago. They didn’t select until the 53rd pick and almost literally stayed home.