THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : Shrewd or Foolish? Time Will Tell on Clippers

Why they’ll always be the Clippers (cont.):

The good news, for an organization that cares about such things, is you can’t pin this one on The Donald. This was Bill Fitch’s baby, not Donald T. Sterling’s.

Fitch is someone you have to respect. Talk radio, popular perception and this trade notwithstanding, he’s not an idiot or your typical Clipper clown.

He’s one of the few in the organization who played no part in its latest disintegration. On the contrary, he helped build the expansion Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets into contenders. What he did Wednesday, he did for logical and well thought-out reasons.

Not that I agree with them. History will finally judge the deal, but in the meantime, one question has to be answered:

What was that, a joke?

Great players make great teams, and Antonio McDyess was a candidate. Seattle SuperSonic Coach George Karl and Indiana Pacer President Donnie Walsh, among others, say he could have been the top pick.

Says another personnel director, “He’s more athletic than just about anyone in the league except for Hakeem Olajuwon.”

However, Fitch thought the franchise couldn’t stand another 17-victory season while developing the 20-year-old McDyess (or Jerry Stackhouse, Kevin Garnett or Rasheed Wallace) and trying to sweat Stanley Roberts below the Refrigerator Perry Line.

“All you’d have heard in our place,” Fitch says of another season like this one, “was the ball bouncing.”

Of course, Clipper management dug this hole, shovelful by shovelful. It isn’t easy to turn a gig in L.A. into a synonym for exile, but it did it.

Was someone surprised when the top rookies winced at their name?

Joe Smith said it would be tough to play for them.

Stackhouse, afraid he’d get the chance, called it one of God’s tests, then had agent Lee Fentress notify West Coast teams he wanted to stay east.

McDyess, informed he’d been traded at the draft in Toronto, whipped off his Clipper cap and said, “Yuck, you can have this.”

Another 17-65 season would have been hard on participants but would have positioned the Clippers for the top of the ’96 draft, which may include Tim Duncan and Ray Allen, already considered better than any player in this one by some.

Who knows when the Clippers will choose this high again? Two expansion teams will join the race for the top picks, although they won’t be allowed to get the No. 1, and there are still the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors. The Clippers might win 25 or more.

However, one 17-65 season weakened Fitch’s resistance to farce, so he chose another route, help in depth:

Rodney Rogers--The key to the deal, he’s a monster small forward--6 feet 6 and 265 pounds--who makes threes and dunks in traffic. At 24, he’s a nice young man with two years’ experience, but he still takes games off.

“He’s Charles Barkley Jr. some nights,” a personnel director says. “Elmer Fudd on others.”

Rogers’ arrival suggests the Clippers will phase out Lamond Murray, last season’s top rookie.

Brent Barry--An unknown, he’s rated a comer. The Bulls tried to trade up for him, offering the Clippers a second-round pick plus their choice of Bill Wennington, Dickie Simpkins or Corie Blount.

“Best passer in the draft and among the best shooters,” a personnel director says of Barry. “He’s weak as a kitten because he hasn’t got a body yet. You might have to wait on him, but he might make it big.”

Take a step back, Terry Dehere.

Brian Williams--This talented young Gypsy played for several high schools, two colleges and is on his third pro team. Fitch thinks Williams is not a power forward but a center, where he’ll start unless there’s a lot less of Stanley by November.

Williams is bright but tightly wrapped and emotional. His sense of humor is either different or refreshing. With the Denver Nuggets in free fall last season, he suggested that players join hands and sing “Kumbaya.”

Adios to eccentric Elmore Spencer and Randy Woods and his ironclad contract.

The Clippers will more closely resemble an NBA team. Who knows, maybe it will work.

Of course, if McDyess and Stackhouse become big stars and the Clippers stay the Clippers, it’ll be remembered another way: the dumbest move in their long, dumb history.