Clippers Make No. 1 Pick Center of Attention Again

Out the window over his right shoulder was a big hole in the ground that represents the team’s future, of which he had just become a part.

The Clippers introduced another piece of their puzzle Thursday at the Convention Center, hard by the Staples Center and a symbolic 2.7-mile departure from the Sports Arena that has housed so much frustration for so many years.

Meet Michael Olowokandi, center, first pick in the NBA draft.

Phase II.

“We’ve decided to build from the top down,” said Andy Roeser, the Clippers’ executive vice president. “That meant the lease on the Staples Center [scheduled for occupancy during the 1999-2000 season] and the No. 1 pick in the draft.”

That the No. 1 pick has no point guard to get him the ball, or no coach to tell the point guard how, was no problem, as far as he’s concerned.

“I have no feelings about that,” Olowokandi said. “That’s the problem of management.”

Or, as he added when asked about sharing Los Angeles with another center, based a bit to the west, “I can’t tell you the future. I only have control over the process.”

And not much control over that.

Next for the Clippers is the selection of a coach, and that is largely because they aren’t going to be allowed to sign a point guard any time soon.

Barring the unforeseen, labor negotiations between the NBA and the players’ association are going to provide a July 1 moratorium on dealing with free agents or making trades.

With all that summertime on their hands, it’s a question of playing golf, going fishing or hiring a coach, and apparently there is going to be time for the Clippers’ management to do all three.

“I don’t want to comment on the coach,” said Elgin Baylor, vice president of basketball operations. “I’ll only say that we have talked to some people and will be talking with more.”

Part of the wait is because the rest of the NBA is still shaking out coaches, a Clipper source said, adding that George Karl’s departure from Seattle and apparent wooing of the Chicago Bulls’ job vacated by Phil Jackson is an example of the flux going on in the league.

The point guard situation is another story.

The best two available through free agency are Damon Stoudamire of Portland and Rod Strickland of Washington, and neither will probably be available to the Clippers.

That leaves signing a lesser light or a trade, now that they have passed up Arizona’s Mike Bibby in the draft, leaving him for the second pick, by Vancouver.

“We think we can get a point guard in the two weeks or so before training camp,” Roeser said.

Regardless, it remains for them to sign Olowokandi--which his agent, Bill Duffy, said Thursday would require about $2.7 million for his first season under the rookie salary cap--and get him ready for the NBA after a career in the Big West; for Los Angeles, after playing collegiately at Pacific, in Stockton, Calif.

“That’s all part of the past,” Olowokandi said of the troubles that put the Clippers in position to draft him No. 1. “We need to concentrate on the future.”