NBA Is a Young Man’s Game : Draft: Smith, McDyess, Stackhouse, Wallace and Garnett lead the way.

It was a new day, all right. No one took an adult in the NBA draft until the sixth pick, and a record 10 of the 29 first-round picks were not college seniors.

The top five Wednesday were Joe Smith, 19, taken by the Golden State Warriors; Antonio McDyess, 20, by the Clippers, who traded him to the Denver Nuggets; Jerry Stackhouse, 20, by the Philadelphia 76ers; Rasheed Wallace, 20, by the Washington Bullets, and Kevin Garnett, 19, by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

There was one big surprise, the Clipper-Nugget trade. Meanwhile, the most anticipated move--a trade between Washington and Portland that would have brought high school sensation Garnett to the Trail Blazers--didn’t happen.

The Trail Blazers reportedly offered Rod Strickland and the No. 8 pick for Calbert Cheaney and the Bullets’ No. 4. The Bullets offered Rex Chapman instead of Cheaney. The Trail Blazers turned them down. The Bullets kept the pick and drafted Wallace.

Garnett, who just turned 19, then was taken by Minnesota, where players have been known to age quickly.

“I’ve seen a lot in my 19 years,” Garnett said. “I do not think I’m the average 19-year-old. Given the chance, I’m going to prove to all of you that I am man enough to take what is given and mature enough to give it out.”

The Vancouver Grizzlies made Oklahoma State center Bryant (Big Country) Reeves their first-ever draft choice at No. 6, also making him the first four-year college player selected Wednesday.

The draft was held in Toronto, where the expansion Raptors will open play next season. A record crowd for the event, 21,968 in the SkyDome, chanted for UCLA’s Ed O’Bannon as General Manager Isiah Thomas prepared to make the franchise’s first draft pick at No. 7, then booed when Arizona guard Damon Stoudamire’s name was announced.

O’Bannon, whose surgically repaired left knee was “flagged” by doctors at the Chicago pre-draft camp, was originally expected to be one of the top six or seven picks, but he went to the New Jersey Nets at No. 9.

There were bigger falls to come. Rashard Griffith, the 6-10 center who left Wisconsin after his sophomore season and was first projected as a lottery pick, fell off the first round and sank to the Milwaukee Bucks at No. 38.

Arizona State junior center Mario Bennett, expected to go in the 12-15 range, fell to the hometown Phoenix Suns at No. 27.

UCLA guard Tyus Edney, considered a sure first-rounder when he led the Bruins to the NCAA title in April, broke a bone in his hand at the Desert Classic in Phoenix in May and dropped to the Sacramento Kings at No. 47.

The biggest leaps were taken by Oregon State’s Brent Barry, considered a late first-rounder, taken at 15 by the Nuggets and traded to the Clippers; UCLA’s George Zidek who wasn’t expected to be drafted at the start of his senior season but went No. 22 to Charlotte, and Eric Williams, a 6-8 forward from Providence, expected to go late in the first round, taken by the Boston Celtics at No. 14.

The Warriors, choosing first, went for Smith, the 6-9 Maryland center whose lean 220-pound frame worried pro scouts but whose all-around game and sunny personality won over new General Manager Dave Twardzik.

“It’s a dream come true more than a surprise,” Smith said. “I worked very hard for it. It’s a great accomplishment for me. I’m a little choked up right now.”

Said Twardzik: “He’s a quality kid. He has a tremendous work ethic. Our fans will love him.”

The Clippers then chose McDyess on behalf of the Nuggets and jubilation erupted in two cities: Denver, where fans weren’t expecting their team to get its hands on a high lottery pick, and Philadelphia, where the 76ers and their fans were praying Stackhouse would drop to them.

“This draft could have gone any way,” 76er owner Harold Katz said. “Stackhouse could have been No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3. It happened to be our turn for luck. We lucked in.”

Said Coach John Lucas: “We’re getting ready to get up and down the floor. I can’t put him in a slowdown style. Now we’ve got to get people, other horses, to run with. We got us a racehorse and we’re going to get us another racehorse, and another.”

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The First Round

NO. TEAM PLAYER P HT. WT. SCHOOL 1. Golden State Joe Smith F 6-10 225 Maryland 2. Clippers* Antonio McDyess F 6-9 220 Alabama 3. Philadelphia Jerry Stackhouse G 6-6 218 North Carolina 4. Washington Rasheed Wallace F 6-10 225 North Carolina 5. Minnesota Kevin Garnett F 6-10 220 Farragut HS 6. Vancouver Bryant Reeves C 7-0 292 Oklahoma St. 7. Toronto Damon Stoudamire G 5-10 171 Arizona 8. Portland** Shawn Respert G 6-3 195 Michigan St. 9. New Jersey Ed O’Bannon F 6-8 217 UCLA 10. Miami Kurt Thomas F 6-9 230 Texas Christian 11. Milwaukee Gary Trent F 6-8 240 Ohio 12. Dallas Cherokee Parks F 6-11 240 Duke 13. Sacramento Corliss Williamson F 6-7 245 Arkansas 14. Boston Eric Williams F 6-8 220 Providence 15. Denver Brent Barry G 6-6 185 Oregon St. 16. Atlanta Alan Henderson F 6-9 225 Indiana 17. Cleveland Bob Sura G 6-5 200 Florida St. 18. Detroit Theo Ratliff F 6-9 220 Wyoming 19. Detroit Randolph Childress G 6-2 188 Wake Forest 20. Chicago Jason Caffey F 6-8 245 Alabama 21. Phoenix Michael Finley F 6-7 215 Wisconsin 22. Charlotte George Zidek C 7-0 250 UCLA 23. Indiana Travis Best G 5-11 182 Georgia Tech 24. Dallas Loren Meyer F 6-10 253 Iowa St. 25. Orlando David Vaughn F 6-10 240 Memphis 26. Seattle Sherell Ford F 6-7 210 Illinois Chicago 27. Phoenix Mario Bennett F 6-9 235 Arizona St. 28. Utah Greg Ostertag C 7-2 275 Kansas 29. San Antonio Cory Alexander G 6-1 183 Virginia

* Clippers traded rights to McDyess and Randy Woods to Denver for rights to Brent Barry and Rodney Rogers.

** Portland traded rights to Respert to Milwaukee for rights to Gary Trent.