DATE: Wednesday, June 25, 1997              TAG: 9706250687

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Bob Molinaro 

                                            LENGTH:   62 lines

DRAFT LACKS SUSPENSE, IMPACT PLAYERS

Everybody seems to agree that tonight's NBA draft is one of the weakest in years, if not of all time.

Why, then, make such fuss over a near non-event that takes place every June?

Hate to ruin the suspense for those of you who just tuned into this livestock lottery, but we already know how the headline story reads.

Tim Duncan will be the first player selected. He'll be taken by the San Antonio Spurs. It was in all the papers. And Duncan is the only reason to care about this draft.

``After Tim Duncan,'' noted Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, ``there probably are no impact players in this draft.''

No impact players after Duncan. Almost everybody agrees with that. And yet, a few college dropouts, a recent 12th-grader, even an actual graduate or two of a major university are about to get very rich.

NBA teams guarantee the top first-rounders millions of dollars. They pay them millions knowing full well that they are not impact players.

Is this any way to run a business?

Word has it that the Los Angeles Lakers are talking with Vancouver about acquiring the Grizzlies' No. 4 pick. With it, the Lakers reportedly would hope to draft this year's most-hyped high school player, Tracy McGrady of Durham, N.C.

If the Lakers were to choose McGrady, he'd join last year's prep prodigy Kobe Bryant.

Are the Lakers building a team or opening a day-care facility?

Another scenario has McGrady going to the Golden State Warriors. Just what a franchise in disarray needs: a teenager around the house.

``Our own'' Joe Smith of the Warriors was just a teen himself when he became the No. 1 pick two years ago. In another season, he'll be a free agent. That's when he, and other young players in his position, can make really big money after getting by on an annual pittance of $2.7 million.

Smith is an extraordinary talent. But is he an impact player? Hint: In his two NBA seasons, the Warriors are a combined 32 games below .500. This sort of historical perspective would seem to shrink the stature of the draft.

We keep hearing about all the great young talent the NBA brings in each year. But if you notice, it's the thirtysomethings - Michael, Scottie, Malone, Stockton, Barkley, Ewing, Olajuwon, et al. - who push around the kids.

The only hope for those who love basketball is that the Generation Xers grow nearly as committed to the game as they are to their sneaker contracts. That more develop in the image of Grant Hill, not Shaquille O'Neal.

Usually in late June the draft represents our last connection with a so-called basketball event until fall. That has changed with the introduction of the WNBA.

The inaugural weekend of the women's league was hyped more than ``Batman and Robin.'' Still, when a WNBA game outdraws all Saturday afternoon sports programming, you've gotta believe the Golf Channel was having technical problems that day.

It's too early to guess at the future of the WNBA, except to wonder - gently, so as not to ruffle feminist feathers - haven't we had enough basketball for now?

As tonight's draft extravaganza and the premier of the WNBA reveal, pro basketball has measured the impact of everything but the timely, graceful exit.

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