The ground shook in the Pacific Division on Wednesday. The Orlando Magic went to Plan B in the NBA draft, trading top choice Chris Webber to the Golden State Warriors for Anfernee Hardaway and three future No. 1 picks, creating a new power in the West.

The Warriors, who have frightened opponents in recent years with their small lineups, added a dominating 6-9, 263-pound inside player and started making plans for next postseason.

“This is the year we’ve got to make a statement with our big people,” Don Nelson, the Warriors’ coach and general manager, told a cheering crowd of 4,500 in Oakland Coliseum, “and we did it without losing any of our nucleus.

“We’ve been trying to get some size for a long, long time. Now we have a fellow who can play power forward and some center for us. . . . I feel this team is ready to challenge anybody next year.”


The Magic, lacking depth and hopelessly paralyzed by the salary cap, chose to deal for Hardaway, a 6-7 point guard from Memphis State everyone was raving about, and No. 1 picks in 1996, 1998 and 2000, giving them a total of 11 in the next seven seasons. However, 10 will be their own pick or the Warriors’ and none figures to be in the lottery. Fans watching at Orlando Arena booed when the trade was announced.

Magic officials had wrestled with their options over the weekend, a debate so furious it might have claimed the job of Coach Matty Guokas, who was moved into the front office just hours before the draft and was replaced by his top assistant, Brian Hill.

Guokas, the only coach the Magic had had in its four seasons, was given the newly created title of vice-president for basketball development, joining an already-jammed directory alongside General Manager Pat Williams and personnel director John Gabriel.

Guokas had reportedly pushed for Kentucky’s Jamal Mashburn with the top pick and refused to come off it. The day before the draft, Guokas acknowledged: “We’re not on the same page yet. That’s healthy at this point. It’s good to have different ideas on these things, but it might not be so good if it’s still that way Wednesday night.”


By Wednesday night, Guokas wasn’t coaching anymore, although he denied it had anything to do with the draft. Magic officials said they were going to announce Guokas’ move in a week but moved it up when ESPN learned of it.

“People close to me asked, ‘Why now?’ ” Guokas said. “It’s just time.”

Said Gabriel: “Our goal was to select the player we wanted while using the leverage that comes with having the top pick. We felt Anfernee Hardaway was the best player in the draft.”

Said Williams: “There’s no question we fell in love with him. I’ve been in basketball for a long time and he showed me things I haven’t seen. We’ve got a guy who will run our ballclub for the next 12 or 15 years.”


Hardaway was drafted by the Warriors Wednesday, put on a Warrior cap for a TV interview and was traded to the Magic 10 minutes later.

“Nothing against Golden State,” he said, “but I’m looking forward to playing with Shaq. I think we’re going to be a dominating team. Me and Shaq will play well together. We really complement each other.”

Webber, who had spent the last two months after his second trip to the Final Four with Michigan getting ready to complement O’Neal, too, was shaken by the news that he’s on his own.

“Maybe I wasn’t the right thing for them,” he said. “This is still a great thrill, to be the number one player in the draft. . . . This is a dream come true. Don’t take away my dream come true.”


Shawn Bradley, the 7-6 phenom from Brigham Young and two years on a Mormon mission, went to the Philadelphia 76ers, drafting second, as expected, but the Magic-Warrior deal dropped Mashburn to fourth, where the Dallas Mavericks gratefully gobbled him up.

“This is a great situation for me,” Mashburn said. “I’ll take some bumps and bruises but I don’t want to sit on the bench. When I went to Dallas (for a visit), I fell in love with the place. They had a down year, but this is a new year.”

J.R. Rider of Nevada Las Vegas went fifth to the Minnesota Timberwolves and announced he wanted to be known as Isaiah.

The Washington Bullets, who had wanted Rider by any name, swallowed and took the consolation prize, Indiana’s Calbert Cheaney.


The Sacramento Kings, as expected, drafted Duke point guard Bobby Hurley.

In a mild surprise, Milwaukee’s Mike Dunleavy went for 6-11 Vin Baker of tiny Hartford University. There had been speculation the Lakers would trade Elden Campbell for a flop of picks, but Dunleavy opted for the man Laker General Manager Jerry West wanted.

Denver, choosing ninth, took newly enlarged Rodney Rogers, who played last season at 235 pounds but weighed 260 by last month’s rookie camp in Chicago.

“People say a lot of things,” Rogers said. “If I show I can play, my height and weight won’t mean a thing.”


The Detroit Pistons, choosing 10th and 11th and expected to go for one big man and one small one, took two guards, Jackson State’s Lindsey Hunter and Tennessee’s Allan Houston. The Lakers were hoping for the former and the Clippers for the latter. But Isiah Thomas, a power within the organization due to his relationship with owner Bob Davidson, lobbied for Hunter.

That left the Lakers, picking No. 12, with North Carolina forward George Lynch, a steady 6-8 rebounder. The Clippers followed by selecting Seton Hall guard Terry Dehere, the Big East’s career leading scorer.

The First Round

The order of selections in Wednesday’s NBA draft at The Palace at Auburn Hills, Mich.


NO. TEAM PLAYER SCHOOL POS. HT. WT. 1. Orlando Chris Webber* Michigan F 6-9 245 2. Philadelphia Shawn Bradley Brigham Young C 7-6 235 3. Golden State Anfernee Hardaway** Memphis State G-F 6-7 195 4. Dallas Jamal Mashburn Kentucky F 6-8 240 5. Minnesota J.R. Rider UNLV G 6-5 215 6. Washington Calbert Cheaney Indiana F 6-7 209 7. Sacramento Bobby Hurley Duke G 6-0 165 8. Milwaukee Vin Baker Hartford F 6-11 232 9. Denver Rodney Rogers Wake Forest F 6-7 235 10. Detroit Lindsey Hunter Jackson State G 6-2 170 11. Detroit Allan Houston Tennessee G 6-6 200 12. Lakers George Lynch North Carolina F 6-8 218 13. Clippers Terry Dehere Seton Hall G 6-4 190 14. Indiana Scott Haskin Oregon State C 6-11 250 15. Atlanta Doug Edwards Florida State F 6-9 220 16. New Jersey Rex Walters Kansas G 6-4 190 17. Charlotte Greg Graham Indiana G 6-4 183 18. Utah Luther Wright Seton Hall C 7-2 270 19. Boston Acie Earl Iowa C 6-10 240 20. Charlotte Scott Burrell Connecticut F 6-7 218 21. Portland James Robinson Alabama G 6-2 180 22. Cleveland Chris Mills Arizona F 6-6 216 23. Seattle Ervin Johnson New Orleans C 6-11 242 24. Houston Sam Cassell Florida State G 6-3 195 25. Chicago Corie Blount Cincinnati F 6-10 225 26. Orlando Geert Hammink Louisiana State C 7-0 262 27. Phoenix Malcolm Mackey Georgia Tech F 6-11 248

* Traded to Golden State for Anfernee Hardaway and first-round selections in 1996, 1998, 2000.

** Traded to Orlando for Chris Webber.