Charlotte gets second pick

The Charlotte Bobcats swapped first-round draft choices with the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, giving the NBA’s newest franchise a chance to select Dwight Howard or Emeka Okafor with the No. 2 overall pick.

Charlotte sent the No. 4 overall pick, along with a second-round selection (No. 33 overall), to Los Angeles for the No. 2 choice. The Bobcats also agreed to select Clippers center Predrag Drobnjak in today’s expansion draft.

The Bobcats have made no secret of their desire to obtain Okafor or Howard as one of the main building blocks for the league’s 30th franchise.

“We would be pleased starting our basketball team with either one of those young men,” Bobcats coach and general manager Bernie Bickerstaff said. “They represent what we would like to become in terms of character, competitiveness and talent.”

The Clippers are expected to choose Peoria prep star Shaun Livingston with the fourth overall pick, believing the Chicago Bulls will pass on him at No. 3 because they would not want to use their lottery pick on a point guard for a third consecutive year.

Howard, a power forward, and Livingston, a point guard, are two of the top high school players available in Thursday night’s draft.

“We will get the player we want with the fourth pick, and it improves our salary cap flexibility with regard to potential free agents,” Los Angeles general manager Elgin Baylor said. “We didn’t say who we’d pick. We won’t disclose that until draft day.”

The Orlando Magic hold the first selection in the draft, and team officials claim they are undecided on whether to select Okafor or Howard.

T-Mac to Houston deal reportedly close

The Magic and Houston Rockets are apparently on the verge of pulling off a blockbuster trade involving all-stars Tracy McGrady and Steve Francis and several others, according to Francis’ agent.

Jeff Fried told the Houston Chronicle that a deal sending McGrady to Houston and Francis to Orlando was imminent. Because Francis’ contract falls under “base-year compensation” rules, the Magic and Rockets might have to involve the expansion Charlotte Bobcats in the deal. Charlotte will take part in the NBA expansion draft today.

Because the sum of the salaries must come within 15 percent of one another in NBA trades, Orlando might also acquire guard Cuttino Mobley and center Kelvin Cato in the deal. The Magic would also have to send veteran power forward Juwan Howard, point guard Tyronn Lue and center Andrew DeClercq to the Rockets.

“I spoke to (Houston general manager) Carroll (Dawson) and it was not a done deal,” Fried said. “It’s close. It’s subject to a few contingencies.”

Francis is scheduled to make $11.3 million in the second year of a six-year, $85 million contract. Cato is due $7.9 million, while Mobley is scheduled to make $5.8 million. McGrady is owed $14.4 million, while Howard ($5.4 million), DeClercq ($2.7 million) and Lue ($1.65 million) were thrown in to balance out the deal.

Fried also told the Chronicle that Francis was none too happy about leaving a Houston team that was in the playoffs this spring and heading to a Magic team coming off a 21-61 season.

“Steve’s preference is to not go to Orlando,” Fried said. “Steve’s tasted the playoffs. (The Rockets) got a series under their belts. He was looking forward to going further with the same Rockets team but with another year of experience together. This is certainly not his preference. He loves Houston.”

When reached by phone on Saturday, McGrady said he “didn’t want to let it out yet,” obviously referring to his imminent trade. While he said he had “a great, great meeting” with team owner Rich DeVos on Friday, McGrady suggested that it was the Magic who were primarily pushing for a trade and not him.

Bobcats looking to go cheap, young

Kerry Kittles, Eddie Jones, Antoine Walker and their high-salaried, unprotected brethren can breathe a sigh of relief. The Charlotte Bobcats don’t want them in today’s expansion draft.

“We aren’t taking any big contracts,” coach and general manager Bernie Bickerstaff said Monday. “We aren’t taking any contracts that are longer than two years.”

That means the Bobcats will select young, unproven gym rats that can possibly be molded into future stars. That means no Jerry Stackhouse, no Brian Grant, no Allan Houston and — former Hornets fans can relax — no Derrick Coleman.

But will anyone even recognize the players Bickerstaff does select?

“Basketball fans will,” he said.

In a deal that was close to being finalized, Charlotte would acquire center Jahidi White, cash and a future draft pick from Phoenix.

Lakers will be patient with hiring

The Lakers hope to hire a new coach within a couple of weeks, with general manager Mitch Kupchak saying he plans to interview more than one candidate and fewer than 10.

Former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich was reportedly en route to Los Angeles late Monday for an interview.

“We are in the process of trying to narrow down the coaching candidates and select a coach for this team,” Kupchak said. “I would hope this would happen sooner than later.

“I can’t say that could happen in a day or two. That probably means a couple weeks. We don’t want this to linger into July or August.”

Nets likely to trade first-round pick

The New Jersey Nets will likely trade their first-round draft pick, No. 22 overall, team president Rod Thorn said.

Thorn refused to comment on a report that the Nets would send the pick in Thursday night’s draft to the Portland Trail Blazers for backup point guard Eddie Gill and $3 million.

“We haven’t done it yet,” Thorn said. “That doesn’t mean we might not do it later.”

Mark Bartelstein, Gill’s agent, confirmed the teams were discussing a trade.