THE NBA: 1994-95 PREVIEW : Clippers Hope It’s Not One for Books : Pro basketball: Fitch will try to make the most out of low expectations.

An NBA player agent was discussing the Clippers the other day.

“(General Manager) Elgin Baylor might as well go ahead and make his hotel reservations in New York for the lottery next May,” he said.

And most NBA followers agree, making the Clippers a consensus pick to finish last in the Pacific Division for the second consecutive season.

In fact, some predict that the Clippers could challenge the Philadelphia 76ers, who in 1972-73 compiled the worst record in NBA history, 9-73.

Clipper forward Harold Ellis takes issue with that.

“I can say this: We’re not going to break that record,” Ellis said on the opening day of training camp. “I’m saying that right now.

“I can’t accept that we’re not going to be that good. I can’t accept it. I’ve never been part of a losing team (Ellis played on last season’s 27-55 team). I can’t buy that we’re going to finish in last place. . . .

“I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people. We’re here to prove people wrong. I think that’s a lot of incentive to start with.”

Forward Loy Vaught agreed.

“We have to remain optimistic,” he said. “We realize that we won’t have any all-stars. We’re going to have to be a bunch of guys who go out and win on determination. We’re going to be underdogs a lot of games, and that’s our motivation.”

Bill Fitch, who has lost more games than any NBA coach, 905, realizes that it’s going to take time to rebuild the Clippers, whose roster reads like an NBA who’s that? They have 10 players with two years or less of NBA experience, including first-round draft picks Lamond Murray and Eric Piatkowski.

“Our strength is our spirit and our youth,” Fitch said. “We’re going to be able to suffer through hard times while we learn. The bad nights won’t get us down. And our strength lies in the fact that we can get better.”

Fitch, whose team lost five of eight exhibition games, doesn’t believe the Clippers are ready for tonight’s opener against the Portland Trail Blazers at Yokohama, Japan.

“If I had my rathers, I’d like to have another 30 days with these guys,” Fitch said. “I hope we’re better 30 days from now, just playing games.”

The Clippers will be without seven-foot center Stanley Roberts for the second season in a row.

Roberts, who played only 14 games before rupturing his right Achilles’ tendon last season, probably will sit out the season after rupturing his left Achilles’ tendon in his first game back.

“It kills us,” guard Gary Grant said of Roberts’ injury. “Just watching him play for the few minutes he played (in last week’s 101-98 exhibition victory over Atlanta), you could tell he was going to be a force. Just think if he was in better shape.”

Enigmatic Elmore Spencer, who started 63 of the 68 games after Roberts was injured last season, is expected to replace Roberts.

Spencer, who signed a $5-million, three-year contract extension on the first day of camp, stormed out of practice on Oct. 17 and walked three miles to the team hotel. He returned the next day after meeting with team officials, but never fully explained his outburst.

The Clippers, who lacked depth to begin with, have already been hit hard by injuries.

Grant sat out training camp after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and will open the season on the injured list.

Ellis sat out the final three exhibition games because of a sprained right ankle, and Vaught, the team’s leading rebounder last season, sat out the final exhibition because of a hip injury. Forward Malik Sealy has been hampered by strained Achilles’ tendons.

The Clippers lost their leading scorers, forward Dominique Wilkins, who was acquired in a midseason trade for Danny Manning, and disgruntled guard Ron Harper. Wilkins, who averaged a team-high 29.1 points, signed with Boston, and Harper, who averaged 20.1 points, with Chicago.

Fitch is counting on guard Terry Dehere, who shot only 37.7% as a rookie last season but averaged a team-high 19.9 points and shot 46.1% in the exhibition season, to jump-start the offense.

‘I’m glad I’ve got Terry,” Fitch said. “If Terry continues to keep playing and doing the things he’s doing and doesn’t get too big for his britches, he’s going to be a hell of a player.”

Point guard Pooh Richardson is also expected to play a key role for the Clippers. Richardson was acquired from the Indiana Pacers along with Sealy and the draft rights to Piatkowski for disgruntled point guard Mark Jackson and the draft rights to Louisville guard Greg Minor, the 25th player selected in the draft.

Richardson, the former UCLA guard who is playing for his third team in six seasons, averaged a career-low 10 points in 37 games with the Pacers last season after suffering shoulder and calf injuries.

Clipper Notes

The Clippers reduced their roster to 12 Thursday by putting center Bob Martin, guard Gary Grant and center Stanley Roberts on the injured list. The Clippers said that Martin, who was fine when the team left for Japan on Tuesday, bruised his right heel in practice. . . . Center Matt Fish, a rookie from North Carolina Wilmington who was a longshot to make the team when training camp opened, will be on the opening-night roster.

One of Danny Manning’s biggest complaints when he played for the Clippers was that they didn’t have a permanent practice facility. Manning is gone, but the Clippers finally have a practice site. They have signed a five-year contract to use the Veterans Sports Complex in Carson.

Clippers Online

* Want to know more about the Clippers? Player profiles, statistics, and other information from the team’s media guide is available in the Your Teams section of TimesLink, the new on-line service of the Los Angeles Times.

Details on Times electronic services, B4.

CLIPPER ROSTER

STARTERS

Pos No. Player Yr. F 21 Malik Sealy 2 F 35 Loy Vaught 4 C 27 Elmore Spencer 2 G 24 Terry DeHere 1 G 2 Pooh Richardson 5

RESERVES

Pos No. Player Yr. G 30 Harold Ellis 1 C 50 Matt Fish R G 23 Gary Grant* 6 C 42 Bob Martin* 1 F 9 Tony Massenburg 2 F 7 Lamond Murray R F 45 Charles Outlaw 1 G/F 52 Eric Piatkowski R C 53 Stanley Roberts* 3 G 14 Randy Woods 2

*--Injured List

- Head Coach: Bill Fitch.

- Assistants: Jim Brewer, Barry Hecker, Bob Ociepka.