Clippers Go Forward to MacLean : NBA draft: Polynice is traded to Pistons after La Salle’s Woods is picked. Los Angeles also takes UNLV’s Spencer with the No. 25 selection.

It was like the regular season all over again Wednesday, when the Clippers started slow and ended with a flurry.

Their first pick in the draft didn’t come until No. 16, the latest of the Elgin Baylor era, excluding a year ago when the Clippers traded No. 9 hours before the selection to get Doc Rivers. But once the wait was over, and even though they had only two picks, the Clippers squeezed in transactions for four players and two future choices.

In order:

--Unable to get Minnesota to budge off their demands for Danny Manning to get Pooh Richardson, the Clippers used the 16th pick to bolster the backcourt and chose Randy Woods of La Salle.

--They traded former starting center Olden Polynice to Detroit for UCLA forward Don MacLean, selected a few moments earlier at No. 19, and backup center William Bedford. The Pistons will also get two second-round picks in either 1996 or ’97 or both, depending on future finishes.

--Continuing to work on center, they used the 25th pick on 7-footer Elmore Spencer from Nevada Las Vegas.

The Clippers, predictably, said they got the players they wanted, namely Woods, MacLean and Spencer. Only the last was not a surprise.

MacLean?

The Clippers need another forward like another knee injury. But they felt they couldn’t let a mobile 6-foot-10 player with such scoring potential go by. They plan to play him behind Ken Norman, who may or may not play behind Danny Manning, depending whether he goes back to small forward, if Charles Smith returns to power forward and is backed up by Loy Vaught.

Such an exhaustive depth chart was enough to help push Danny Ferry to Italy, but MacLean, again showing his oft-noted tenacity can be a positive, said he is not fazed.

“It was a surprise to me,” he said of the day’s proceedings. “I had not talked to Detroit at all. I don’t think my agent (Arn Tellem) did, either. I did not think about the trade, just that they (the Pistons) wanted to keep it quiet to get the best guy available. But I’m thrilled. I couldn’t be happier.”

Said Clipper Coach Larry Brown: “The part that pleased me the most was the MacLean situation. I thought he was much better than a lot of the people who went ahead of him. I know we have a logjam at forward. He’s a lot like some of the players we have, but he can shoot the heck out of the ball. I almost got to coach him at UCLA, and I wanted to do that.”

It is the third time in five years the Clippers have made a draft-day trade, all of significance, and it comes after they had selected a forward in each of the previous five drafts since Baylor became general manager.

Woods?

A lot of teams liked him, only lower in the first round. It was thought if the Clippers took him, it would come with their second first-round pick, the final installment on the deal with Cleveland that already brought Ron Harper and Vaught for Ferry and Reggie Williams. Instead, that No. 25 went to get Spencer.

Woods, the Metro Athletic Conference player of the year as a senior, is only 5 foot 10 and shot 39.4%, 42.7% and 41.7% in his three seasons at La Salle. The announcement of his selection, in the fine and growing tradition of Ferry and LeRon Ellis, was booed by the approximately 2,000 fans watching at the Sports Arena.

“We had a need,” Brown said, “and the need was point guard. We tried them all out, and I was impressed with him.”

The pick came only after the Clippers had hit continuous road blocks in their attempt to pry Richardson from the Timberwolves. Talks went on into the final hours before the draft, though apparently the sides never got close enough to make things interesting. There had also been polite talk with Dallas regarding Derek Harper with similar results.

The trade that did happen brought MacLean, but also a swap of reserve centers. Polynice had started 95 of his first 96 games after being acquired from Seattle in the Benoit Benjamin deal, but at once dropped from first to third string in mid-March and seemed destined to stay near the end of the bench. He wasn’t sitting quietly, either--he criticized the organization Monday on TV for a lack of loyalty.

“If you take a look at his history, this is not the first time this has happened,” Brown said. “But it was not a big thing.”

The irony, not lost on the Clippers, is that the Pistons were eager for a new center while their old starter, James Edwards, readies for a second season in Los Angeles. Polynice will give Detroit the aggressive, defensive play the team has come to symbolize, but his passing skills were perceived as a detriment in Brown’s motion offense.

At the same time, the Clippers have no illusions about Bedford, who had a stint in drug rehabilitation and was criticized by Piston teammates for a poor work ethic. But he has guaranteed money for only this season, and an option for next, and all comments come with guarded optimism.

The Clippers figure to tell Edwards today they are picking up his option for 1992-93, a good move considering he may be the starting center. Edwards has until July 1 for a buyout at $250,000 but has already said he wants to stay.

Clipper Notes

The trading may not be over. “I’m certain we’ll be doing more things in the summer,” Elgin Baylor said. Added Larry Brown: “I don’t anticipate everybody being there when the season starts.” . . . LeRon Ellis, last season’s first-round pick, is not expected to get a qualifying offer by the July 1 deadline, making him an unrestricted free agent. That allows him to sign with any team without the Clippers being able to match. It also allows the Clippers to clear him off their salary cap. . . . The Clippers had some interest in Boston’s Sherman Douglas to bolster their backcourt, but could not match salaries, in addition to talent, as required by salary cap rules.

NBA Draft

A look at the first round of the draft, held Wednesday in Portland, Ore.

No., Team Player Pos. School 1. Orlando Shaquille O’Neal C Louisiana State 2. Charlotte Alonzo Mourning C Georgetown 3. Minnesota Christian Laettner F Duke 4. Dallas Jim Jackson G Ohio State 5. Denver LaPhonso Ellis F Notre Dame 6. Washington Tom Gugliotta F N. Carolina St. 7. Sacramento Walt Williams G Maryland 8. Milwaukee Todd Day F Arkansas 9. Philadelphia Clarence Weatherspoon F Southern Miss. 10 Atlanta Adam Keefe F Stanford 11. Houston Robert Horry F Alabama 12. Miami Harold Miner G USC 13. Denver Bryant Stith G Virginia 14. Indiana Malik Sealy F St. John’s 15. Lakers Anthony Peeler G Missouri 16. Clippers Randy Woods G La Salle 17. Seattle Doug Christie G Pepperdine 18. San Antonio Tracy Murray F UCLA 19. Detroit* Don MacLean F UCLA 20. New York Hubert Davis G North Carolina 21. Boston Jon Barry G Georgia Tech 22. Phoenix Oliver Miller F Arkansas 23. Milwaukee Lee Mayberry G Arkansas 24. Golden State Latrell Sprewell G Alabama 25. Clippers Elmore Spencer C UNLV 26. Portland Dave Johnson F Syracuse 27. Chicago Byron Houston F Oklahoma St.

* Rights to MacLean traded with center William Bedford to the Clippers for center Olden Polynice and two future second-round draft choices.