Nets Provide Lakers’ Catch

The Lakers gathered some loose change Thursday, put it together and bought an insurance policy, a nice investment even if it turns out to be temporary.

They got George McCloud, a small forward and a big shooter, from the New Jersey Nets for Joe Kleine, a 1997 first-round pick and a conditional second rounder in ’98. In other words, they got him for nothing.

Kleine was a hard worker and a quality person, but he was also the Lakers’ 12th man since arriving as salary-cap ballast in the Robert Horry-Cedric Ceballos deal Jan. 10. He departs six weeks later in much the same way, far preferable for the Nets to reserve center Sean Rooks, because Kleine will be a free agent at the end of the season and Rooks has six more years on his deal.

The first-round pick? Jerry West may love the challenge of finding his next A.C. Green or Derek Fisher late, but he also knows this is shaping up as a bad draft even near the top, let alone in the 20s where the Lakers figure to pick. Youth isn’t a major need on this team anyway.

So the Nets get a No. 1 pick for the trouble of exchanging one free-agent-to-be with some market value (McCloud) for another (Kleine) with little appeal beyond being a 7-footer. They also get the No. 2 next summer if the Lakers re-sign McCloud.

At least for the time being, the Lakers add a 29-year-old who last season averaged 18.9 points and finished second in the NBA in three-point baskets as a starter with Dallas. His career had been resurrected with the Mavericks until he was sent to New Jersey in the nine-player deal Monday. McCloud never played for the Nets. Long term in this case is the playoffs, not 1997-98.

“It’s terrific,” Coach Del Harris said after McCloud’s second move of the week. “We’ve been working on this a long time. We wanted him before that trade [Dallas-New Jersey] was made. Then we saw when the trade was made, we thought the door might be open.

“It’s no secret we had interest in Chris Mullin. But he and George McCloud and a couple other guys we can’t mention were on our list. We’re happy with this. I can’t tell you how happy I am.”

He tried anyway.

“The fit is not only for the short run,” Harris said. “But he’s a great fit for the long run, when Shaquille [O’Neal] comes back.”

The Lakers will have another spot-up shooter to fan out on the perimeter in hopes of making defenses pay for double teaming O’Neal inside, especially when it’s much more of a halfcourt game during the playoffs. That’s one of the reasons Horry held such an appeal.

The knee injury that will keep Horry out at least six weeks makes McCloud that much more valuable for the present; he could start at small forward after getting acclimated. The Lakers, though, would have done the deal even if injury-free.

McCloud averaged 13.7 points for the Mavericks this season but said Thursday he’s more than willing to accept a lesser role in Los Angeles in exchange for his sanity. The threat of being a Net can do that to a guy.

He called this season in Dallas “probably the worst situation you can be in as a player,” said the Mavericks had “no direction,” and then said he felt worse after going to New Jersey because the problems seemed the same, only in another city.

“To be put in this situation is really a blessing,” said McCloud, shooting a respectable 38% on three-pointers this season, a notch below new teammates Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel. “This is what all of us play this game for: the chance to win a championship.”

The acquisition of McCloud, who doesn’t figure to play tonight against Vancouver, came hours before the trade deadline and was the Lakers’ only move of the day. They had talked with several teams in the last month about a deal for Rooks, conversations initiated by both sides. But in the end, he stayed, tough to move because of a burdensome contract but not about to be given away in the wake of the injury to O’Neal.

“I’m glad I’m still here because I wanted to be here,” Rooks said Thursday. “But there’s nothing I could have done about it anyway. I haven’t worried since I first heard the rumors.”

The energy has gone instead to preparing for when called upon, or rather if called upon. In the three games the Lakers have played without O’Neal, their only true backup center has gone five, five and 13 minutes.

“There’s been times guys have been injured, there’s been times guys have been in foul trouble and I wasn’t needed because of a coach’s decision,” Rooks said. “So who knows? All I can do is try to stay ready.”

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The Laker Trade

* TO THE LAKERS

Forward George McCloud, an outside shooting specialist.

* TO NEW JERSEY

Center Joe Kleine, 1997 first-round draft choice and conditional second-round pick in 1998.

Other Trades

* CHARLOTTE--Traded forward Scott Burrell to Golden State for forward Donald Royal; traded guard Anthony Goldwire and center George Zidek to Denver for guard Ricky Pierce.

* INDIANA--Traded guard Vincent Askew and forward Eddie Johnson to Denver for guard Mark Jackson and forward LaSalle Thompson.

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Profile:

George McCloud

* BORN: May 27, 1967, in Daytona Beach, Fla.

* SIZE: 6 feet 8, 225 pounds.

* COLLEGE: Florida State.

* CAREER: Lottery-pick bust with Indiana after the Pacers had used the No. 7 choice in 1989 to get him. He bounced from Italy (1993-94) to Rapid City of the CBA (1994-95) before getting another shot in the NBA on a 10-day contract with Dallas on Jan. 30, 1995. That became a second 10-day deal with the Mavericks, then a contract for the rest of the season. He became Dallas’ starter at small forward in 1995-96 when Jamal Mashburn was out because of a knee injury and averaged 18.9 points in 36 minutes--about 16 minutes more than in any previous season. Finished second to Washington’s Gheorghe Muresan in balloting for most improved player. Two-year stint with Mavericks ended Monday when he was part of the nine-player deal with New Jersey. The Nets traded him to the Lakers on Thursday.

* THE PLAYER: It has been forgotten, amid McCloud’s emergence as a serious three-point threat, but the Pacers thought so much of his ballhandling that they envisioned a 6-8 point guard in the Magic Johnson mold. That never worked out--little did in four seasons with the Pacers--but he remains a very good ballhandler for someone in the frontcourt, such a capable distributor that he might get a few stints at point forward with the Lakers. That versatility also helps on the rare occasions he plays shooting guard, which doesn’t figure to happen here. He isn’t much of a defender, but at least he doesn’t get pushed around.