NBA -- Danny Manning's 1-Year Pact Worth $3.2 Million

LOS ANGELES - All-Star forward Danny Manning signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Clippers that will keep him with the team at least through the 1993-94 season.

He will make a reported $3.2 million for next season, a 25 percent increase over this year's salary.

Manning apparently will become an unrestricted free agent after the 1993-94 season if the Clippers do not sign him to a long-term contract.

Late last season Manning said he and Clipper Coach Larry Brown, his college coach at Kansas, had been together too long and he might want to be traded. Brown, however, quit after the season and now coaches the Indiana Pacers.

Manning led the Clippers in scoring with a 22.8 average last season. He also averaged 6.6 rebounds while appearing in 79 games. The first pick in the 1988 draft out of Kansas, Manning has averaged 18.5 points and 6.4 rebounds in his five seasons.

Also yesterday, the Clippers decided not to make a qualifying offer to reserve guard Gary Grant, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent. The previous day, the Clippers made Seton Hall guard Terry Dehere their first pick, No. 13 overall, in the NBA draft.

The Clippers would have had to give Grant a one-year contract worth $1.47 million to retain the right of first refusal as a restricted free agent. If they want, they could still pursue him in the open market.

WEBBER TO BARKLEY: `HI'

OAKLAND - Chris Webber is too smart to be drawn into any offseason baiting of his future opponents - players such as Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and Karl Malone.

Asked if he had anything to say to Barkley, whose camps he has attended, Webber said, rather meekly: "Hi."

This 20-year-old knows he has a lot to learn about the NBA.

"I just hope (5-foot-7) Spud Webb checks me a lot," Webber said in his first appearance as the Golden State Warriors' long-awaited big man.

But the 6-9 power forward from Michigan and the top pick in the NBA draft guarded some of the NBA's best last summer when he and a group of top collegians practiced against the U.S. Olympic team. Webber faced off against Barkley, Malone, Patrick Ewing and David Robinson, and was duly humbled.

"I did OK. Some things I did well and some things I need to work on," said Webber, who has signed up for a summer tutorial with Magic Johnson.

Golden State forward and Dream Teamer Chris Mullin gave Webber's skills much higher marks, particularly praising his future teammate's soft hands and dazzling moves.

"Not only was he the best player on the developmental team, but often he was the best player on the court," said Mullin, who interrupted Webber's debut press conference to greet him in person.

NOTES

-- The New Jersey Nets are putting on a full-court press to sign Miami's Kevin Edwards as Drazen Petrovic's successor. According to a team official, the Nets began an all-out effort to sign Edwards, a career 12.2 scorer in five seasons with the Miami Heat. If he turns down the offer, their second choice is Cleveland's Craig Ehlo.

"We hope to get Edwards done very quickly," said the official.

Both became free agents yesterday and are considered the most attractive off guards available in an overall weak pool.

-- Jamal Mashburn doesn't know how to drive that new Ferrari he got from the multimillion-dollar tennis shoe deal he just signed.

"It's still in the garage right now. I have no clue how to drive a stick," said Mashburn, the Dallas Mavericks' top draft choice.

-- Turner Sports' coverage of the NBA draft Wednesday night on TNT set a network ratings record of 4.5, meaning it was seen in nearly 2.7 million homes.

That ratings number was 55 percent higher than last year's, which did a 2.9 rating. The old ratings record was 3.7 in 1989.

-- Detroit Piston center Bill Laimbeer said he would take the first step toward his career after basketball by competing for prize money in a professional golf tournament next weekend.

He said he would compete for the $75,000 prize at the Celebrity Golf Association Championship July 9-11 at Lake Tahoe and will join the Nike Tour - the PGA's minor leagues - when he retires from basketball, most likely after this season.

"I'm counting on this being my last year, but it's up to the Pistons," Laimbeer said after he played in a celebrity pro-am yesterday as part of the LPGA Jamie Farr Toledo Classic.