Heady Days Arrive in Clipperdom

Better check on that earthquake insurance, because The Big One is coming.

Either that or the world will end in the year 2000.

Something bad must be in the works, because good things keep happening to the Clippers.

First they get to play in the Staples Center, now it looks as though they will have a team worth going there to watch.

You could excuse Clipper General Manager for that blank look during the NBA draft lottery Sunday. He has been with this team so long he must always expect the worst.

He showed no reaction even after the Denver Nuggets, who had the worst record in the league, got the No. 3 pick. Since only the Clippers and Vancouver Grizzlies were left, and the Grizzlies were not allowed to get the No. 1 pick as part of their expansion agreement, the top pick had to go to the Clippers.

But Baylor remained expressionless, as if he expected a Lakers logo to somehow appear when the No. 1 envelope was opened.

These are different times. Fortune is on the Clippers’ side.

(Man, things change quickly in this town. Remember the excitement for the Western Conference finals? The Lakers are so secondary right now. The Dodgers trade Mike Piazza to the Florida Marlins in a mega-deal on Friday, then the Lakers turn in that sorry performance in Game 1 Saturday, now the Clippers have the No. 1 pick. Uh, when did you say the Lakers were playing again?)

Even when the Clippers have good luck they don’t enjoy the benefit of good timing. They’re always a year too late.

In 1987 the No. 1 pick in the draft was David Robinson. The next year the Clippers won the lottery and selected Danny Manning. Despite the years of futility, it took the Clippers a decade to get the No. 1 pick again. This time they missed out on Tim Duncan, who went to San Antonio with the top choice in 1997.

The Spurs get franchise centers, the Clippers get nice components.

Mike Bibby, the point guard out of Arizona, isn’t a savior. But he’s the best player available at a position the Clippers need. If they want him, they got him. Life should always be this simple.

Of course, the Clippers are always capable of blowing layups on or off the court. They somehow manage to make even the good things turn out bad. Their run of picks from 1981 to 1983 would make any general manager proud. Tom Chambers, Terry Cummings and Byron Scott all enjoyed long, productive NBA careers. Of course, Chambers and Cummings were traded after two years and Scott was sent to the Lakers before he even played a game in exchange for an aging Norm Nixon.

And those were the good old days.

Every team has draft picks that look bad in retrospect. With the Clippers it’s an annual event.

The 1984 draft is considered the greatest of all time. Somehow the Clippers came up with Lancaster Gordon with the No. 8 pick. They bounced back nicely by taking Michael Cage at No. 14, but traded him after four years. He’s still in the league.

The Clippers took Benoit Benjamin when Chris Mullin and Xavier McDaniel were available in 1985.

The Clippers were spared another embarrassment in 1986 because they traded away their pick, but they came back in prime form in 1987. They took Reggie Williams, when they could have had Scottie Pippen. SCOTTIE PIPPEN.

Not much argument with Manning in ‘88, although Rik Smits and Mitch Richmond also came out that year.

Shipping the rights to 1989 first-rounder Danny Ferry off to Cleveland for Ron Harper would have been the greatest trade in Clipper history if Harper hadn’t torn up his knee. But the Clippers could have saved themselves all the hassle if they had just taken Glen Rice.

Bo Kimble over Tyrone Hill in 1990.

On draft day 1991, they sent the No. 9 pick to Atlanta for Doc Rivers. If they wanted a point guard so badly they could have kept the pick and drafted Terrell Brandon, who went to Cleveland at No. 11.

They could have taken Latrell Sprewell instead of Randy Woods in 1992, and both the Clippers and P.J. Carlesimo’s neck would have been better off for it.

Terry Dehere instead of Scott Burrell and Sam Cassell in 1993.

Kobe Bryant and Eddie Jones both could have been Clippers. The Clippers had Antonio McDyess in the 1995 draft and traded him to Denver.

The Clippers shouldn’t do anything unless it involves trading down to 13 or 14 and taking a player from Michigan. It worked with Loy Vaught in 1990 and Maurice Taylor last year.

Now they better not get any ideas and make a move for Robert Traylor.

Don’t try to do anything cute. Do the right thing, the obvious thing and draft Bibby.

Sure, Michael Olowokandi could very well develop into another David Robinson some day. For now, however, he’s a project, and the Clippers already have two of those in Stojko Vrankovic and Keith Closs.

Why not think ahead to the ultimate Clipper fantasy? A disgruntled Jerry West leaves the Lakers, takes a sabbatical and joins the Clippers next year. He brings free agents Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal with him.

A starting lineup of Bibby, Bryant, Shaq and Taylor sound too farfetched?

Put it this way: the way things are going for the Clippers lately, would you want to bet against it?