NBA DRAFT : Clipper List Down to Two for No. 2 : Pro basketball: Versatile Stackhouse or powerful McDyess expected to be the choice.

The Clippers are expected to select North Carolina swingman Jerry Stackhouse or Alabama power forward Antonio McDyess with the No. 2 pick in today’s NBA draft.

The Golden State Warriors, who won last month’s NBA draft lottery, are expected to take Maryland forward Joe Smith with the No. 1 pick.

The Clippers like Stackhouse, a 6-foot-6 sophomore who averaged a team-high 19.2 points and 8.2 rebounds last season, because of his ability to play both forward and guard.

“I think he’s going to be able to play both big guard and small forward and probably will have the most success at big guard once he plays that full time,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said.

McDyess, a 6-9 sophomore who averaged 13.9 points and 10.2 rebounds last season, blossomed in the NCAA tournament, getting 39 points and 19 rebounds in a first-round overtime victory over Penn, and 22 points and 17 rebounds in a second-round loss to Oklahoma State.

Fitch compares McDyess to forwards Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz and Otis Thorpe of the Portland Trail Blazers.

“He’s got a little Thorpe in him and he’s got a little Malone in him,” Fitch said. “Somewhere in that class is where he’ll probably be four or five years into his career. You saw Malone when he came in. He was taken ninth. [Malone was actually selected 13th in 1985.] It’s hard to believe that there were eight guys taken ahead of him. But that’s the way this league works. You improve and get better.”

With the Clippers having lost forward-center Tony Massenburg to the Toronto Raptors in the NBA expansion draft, McDyess might provide depth at power forward behind Loy Vaught, who averaged a team-high 17.5 points and 9.7 rebounds last season.

Although there were published reports that Stackhouse sent the Clippers a letter saying he didn’t want to come here for a workout and didn’t want them to draft him, Stackhouse said it never happened.

“It was a misunderstanding,” Stackhouse said. “It wouldn’t bother me [to be drafted by the Clippers]. It’s an NBA team and I would take pride in being as highly drafted as I possibly could be.

“Of course, there may be a situation with a team or a couple teams that I feel I’m better suited for than being with the Clippers, who have perimeter guys. But that’s the fun about it, the uncertainty of knowing who you’re going to be drafted by or what type of situation you’re going to be put in. I think I’m ready to handle that.”

Stackhouse was a day late for his workout with the Clippers last week after a North Carolina official gave him the wrong flight information.

“I think he was a little embarrassed by all the innuendoes that had been made and he was in total denial of that,” Fitch said. “I said, ‘Forget that. You don’t have to explain that.’ ”

The Clippers have been approached by several teams seeking to trade up in the draft.

They would have liked getting forward Clarence Weatherspoon from the Philadelphia 76ers, but the 76ers never made him available.

“We just don’t know what’s going to happen between now and the draft,” Clipper General Manager Elgin Baylor said Tuesday. “The closer it gets, the better the offers are going to be.”

The Clippers, who finished with the NBA’s worst record last season, could also use help at center.

Center Stanley Roberts has missed the last two seasons because of Achilles’ tendon injuries, and the enigmatic Elmore Spencer played only 19 games after being put on the injured list because of emotional and personal problems last December.

North Carolina’s Rasheed Wallace, a 6-10 sophomore who averaged 16.6 points and 8.2 rebounds last season, is the top center in the draft, but some NBA scouts question his maturity.

“His attitude was great when he was here [for a workout],” Fitch said. “He’s just young and his attention span is misread for being non-attentive or not caring. Once you get to know him and know where he’s coming from, it’s a little easier to accept.”