NBA DRAFT 2000; IT'S A SIZABLE TASK FOR NEW CHAMPS LAKERS ARE UNLIKELY TO MAKE BIG SCORE.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

The championship is in hand, so now the truth can be told: The Lakers' title run was aided by a strong tailwind, plus a smoke machine and enough mirrors to supply a carnival funhouse.

They were too old at key positions. Too thin upfront. Too unathletic. With too few shooters.

Too bad for the league, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and consistent defense made all of that irrelevant as they rolled to the championship.

But repeating is another matter. And the Lakers will try to fill in the holes once more, starting with today's draft (not much help) and the free-agency market that opens July 1 (not much available).

``Looking at what the apparent weaknesses of our basketball team were, being a championship club, we felt we were able to hide those things relatively well as a team,'' coach Phil Jackson said Tuesday. ``We'd like to be a better rebounding team, to patrol the lane and block penetration, to support Shaq and get him some rest, etc. We need some big bodies that can give us some strength and support on defense and rebound and play post-up defense.''

None of which the Lakers are likely to find when they select 29th in the first round of the draft. It will be best-available-player time, and as general manager Mitch Kupchak noted, ``It's always tougher to find a good big man.''

It will be the Lakers' only pick of the day - Dallas acquired their second-round pick in the A.C. Green trade last summer.

Now the Lakers might be looking to replace Green as well. The team has until July 1 to exercise a one-year option on Green, or let him become a free agent. They have a similar decision to make on Ron Harper. With Glen Rice also becoming a free agent July 1, three-fifths of the starting lineup is in flux.

Team officials are mum on their intentions with regard to Green and Rice - though they appear ready to part with both.

Green's production declined over the season, while Rice was an awkward fit in Jackson's triangle offense and unsatisfied with his role.

Jackson prefers a more versatile small forward and recently was quoted as saying he'd be ``surprised'' if Rice was still a Laker next season. Jackson declined to elaborate on those feelings Tuesday, saying, ``I think it's better left unsaid. . . . We'll have to wait and see how that plays out.''

Jackson still covets former pupil Toni Kukoc, another free agent, and the Lakers could try to acquire him from Philadelphia in a dual sign-and- trade deal involving Rice.

With respect to Harper, a Jackson favorite, the preference is clear: ``He's in our plans for next year.''

``Ron says if I ask him to come back and play, he'll come back and play. I said Ron can do anything he wants to do. He's earned it. If he wants to take up golf, fine. Some of it is, I think Ron wants to play mid-January to the end of the season,'' he said.

But Jackson said if Harper decides not to retire, he expects another full season out of him.

The guard corps, in fact, might not change, barring a trade of Derek Fisher. Fisher is under contract, and the Lakers would like to re-sign Brian Shaw.

``We have every intention of bringing Brian back,'' said Jackson, adding he was ``comfortable enough'' with the backcourt, despite some obvious concerns. Specifically, the age of Shaw (36) and Harper (35), and the height of Fisher (6-foot-1).

Although they need big bodies, the Lakers probably won't re-sign backup center John Salley unless the need is still there come September.

Their last free agent is rookie guard John Celestand, who the Lakers were ``intrigued by,'' and will try to re-sign, said Kupchak.

Teams cannot begin negotiating with free agents until July 1 and are prohibited from actually consummating deals until Aug. 1.

In the meantime, the Lakers will try to find help in today's draft.

``Obviously, size is something we could use down the road,'' Kupchak said. ``I think A.C. did a wonderful job this year, but he's 36 years old. For the bigger players in the league, it's definitely tough for him to match up. Same thing for Robert (Horry).''

Both Jackson and Kupchak said the team needs to add some athleticism, speed and jump shooting.

``I don't think that's any kind of a secret,'' Kupchak said. ``And you can always use shooters when you have players like Kobe and Shaquille.''

But once again, today's draft probably won't address those needs, leaving Jackson to paraphrase Mick Jagger.

``You don't always get what you want,'' Jackson said. ``Hopefully, you get what you need in the process of putting a team together.''

NBA DRAFT ORDER

The order of selection for the 2000 NBA Draft today at the Target Center in Minneapolis:

First Round

1. New Jersey

2. Vancouver

3. CLIPPERS

4. Chicago

5. Orlando (from Golden State)

6. Atlanta

7. Chicago (from Washington through Golden State)

8. Cleveland

9. Houston

10. Orlando (from Denver)

11. Boston

12. Dallas

13. Orlando

14. Detroit

15. Milwaukee

16. Sacramento

17. Seattle

18. CLIPPERS (from Toronto through Atlanta, Philadelphia and New York)

19. Charlotte

20. Philadelphia

21. Toronto (from Minnesota)

22. New York

23. Utah (from Miami)

24. Chicago (from San Antonio)

25. Phoenix

26. Denver (from Utah)

27. Indiana

28. Portland

29. LAKERS

Second Round

30. CLIPPERS

31. Dallas (from Chicago)

32. Chicago (from Golden State)

33. Chicago (from Vancouver through Houston)

34. Chicago (from Atlanta)

35. Washington

36. New Jersey

37. Denver (from Cleveland)

38. Houston

39. New York (from Boston)

40. Atlanta (from Denver)

41. San Antonio (from Dallas)

42. Seattle (from Orlando)

43. Milwaukee

44. Detroit

45. Sacramento

46. Toronto

47. Seattle

48. Philadelphia

49. Milwaukee (from Charlotte)

50. Utah (from New York)

51. Minnesota

52. Miami

53. Denver (from Phoenix)

54. San Antonio

55. Golden State (from Utah)

56. Indiana

57. Atlanta (from Portland through Detroit)

58. Dallas (from Lakers)

DAILY NEWS 2000 NBA MOCK DRAFT

Team/Player/Ht./Wt./Pos./School

1. New Jersey Kenyon Martin 6-9 230 PF Cincinnati

Nets overlooking broken leg, need replacement for Jayson Williams.

2. Vancouver Stromile Swift 6-9 225 PF Louisiana State

Grizzlies passed on Lamar Odom, so they'll take this year's version.

3. Clippers Marcus Fizer 6-8 250 PF Iowa State

Replaces Maurice Taylor, but who will replace Fizer when his contract ends?

4. Chicago Darius Miles 6-9 217 SF East St. Louis H.S.

Bulls still torn between prep star and Texas center Chris Mihm.

5. Orlando Chris Mihm 7-0 262 C Texas

He's had shaky workouts, but Magic can roll dice with three picks.

6. Atlanta Mike Miller 6-8 218 SF Florida

Everyone says Hawks drooling over Miller. So expect surprise.

7. Chicago Joel Przybilla 7-1 260 C Minnesota

Mihm didn't drop this far, so Bulls take best available slow center.

8. Cleveland Iakovos Tsakalidis 7-2 282 C AEK (Greece)

Cavs need another Euro import to back-up Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

9. Houston DerMarr Johnson 6-9 201 SG Cincinnati

Rockets have so many holes, they just want a young, healthy body.

10. Orlando Courtney Alexander 6-5 210 SG Fresno State

Considered a safe, if not inspired pick, but Magic need to replace Ron Mercer.

11. Boston Jerome Moiso 6-10 235 PF UCLA 

His wingspan makes him even bigger, and Antoine Walker needs help.

12. Dallas Olumide Oyedeji 6-10 240 PF DJK Wurzburg

(Germany)

Don Nelson's still in charge, so this pick has to be a gamble.

13. Orlando Jamal Crawford 6-6 190 PG Michigan

Fastest rising player since end of college season.

14. Detroit Mateen Cleaves 6-2 205 PG Michigan State

The hometown favorite fills a glaring void at point guard.

15. Milwaukee Etan Thomas 6-9 256 PF Syracuse

Bucks want physical player, Thomas draws comparisons to Brian Grant.

16. Sacramento Morris Peterson 6-7 215 SG Michigan State

Nick Anderson's days appear numbered, and Peterson is top 3-point threat.

17. Seattle Mamadou N'diaye 7-0 245 C Auburn

Jelani McCoy's opting out of contract, and Sonics need big man.

18. Clippers Keyon Dooling 6-3 184 PG Missouri

An easy decision since there's no coach to offer opinion on who to select.

19. Charlotte Chris Carrawell 6-6 215 SG Duke

With Eddie Jones a goner, Carrawell makes short drive from Durham.

20. Philadelphia Quentin Richardson 6-6 225 SG DePaul

A big tough rebounder/defender offers perfect complement to Allen Iverson.

21. Toronto Erick Barkley 6-1 185 PG St. John's

No Tracy McGrady's out there, so a true point guard is next-best thing.

22. New York Jamaal Magloire 6-10 260 C Kentucky

Knicks struck out with Frederic Weis last year, still need a center.

23. Utah DeShawn Stevenson 6-5 210 SG Fresno Washington

Union H.S.

Jazz need to get younger, and a high schooler is as young as they come.

24. Chicago Craig ``Speedy'' Claxton 5-11 180 PG Hofstra

Bulls are filling almost all their holes in one draft.

25. Phoenix Jason Collier 7-0, 260 F/C Georgia Tech

All Western Conference teams want help defending Shaquille O'Neal.

26. Denver Hanno Mottola 6-10 245 PF Utah

This is type of guy Lakers could use, but he won't be around down below.

27. Indiana Desmond Mason 6-5 215 SG Oklahoma State

He's gotten a lot of late attention, so he may go earlier.

28. Portland Dalibor Bagaric 7-1 275 C Benston Zagreb (Croatia)

Blazers need five more fouls to bother Shaq in playoffs.

29. Lakers Mark Madsen 6-9 240 PF Stanford PF

Had some shortcomings at workout, but L.A. can't live much longer with A.C. Green.

-- Scott Wolf

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, 2 boxes

Photo: (1 -- color -- ran P. 1) Louisiana State's Stromile Swift figures to be one of the first players drafted today.

Douglas C. Pizac/Associated Press

(2) Darius Miles

(3) Kenyon Martin

(4) Marcus Fizer

Box:

(1) NBA draft order (see text)

(2) Daily News 2000 NBA mock draft (see text)