by Bill Nichols

    The struggle toward respectability next season for Cleveland's  new NBA team will have its interesting sidelights, especially how it fares with Buffalo and  Portland, the league's other expansion teams.

    The competition between the three new teams actually began with last Monday's college player draft.  It will continue as each club tries to sign its draft choices, make its picks from the NBA expansion pool and put a team on the court next October.

    ON PAPER, it appears Cleveland did as well in the draft as the other new clubs, but only time will tell.

    Owner Nick Mileti and coach Bill Fitch  selected Iowa's  John Johnson as their first pick.  The 6-7 forward is a shoo-in for most valuable player honors in the Big Ten.  And he led the league in shooting percentage with 60.7 percent efficiency.

    Portland's first pick was Geoff Petrie, 6-4 guard from Princeton and Buffalo's first choice was John Hummer, 6-7 forward also from Princeton.
 
    But Buffalo had a kicker.

    A half-hour before the draft, Baltimore agreed to send to Buffalo rookie guard Mike Davis and the Bullets' first round choice in exchange for Buffalo's initial pick.

    IN EFFECT, Buffalo traded one first round draft choice for two.  Davis was the Bullets' first selectee last year.  Then in its first college pick, Buffalo decided on Hummer.  He is considered to have a good shooting range from 15-18 feet.  He was a center in college, but is a natural pro forward.

    Petrie, who is a 6-4 guard who averaged 22.3 points per game this winter, signed his contract on Friday.  Buffalo's Davis has another year to go on his Baltimore contract, so in effect, he too, is signed.

    Cleveland tabbed all-Big Ten Dave Sorenson of Ohio State in the second round.  Buffalo chose Cornell Warner, a 6-8 forward from Jackson State, and Portland tabbed 6-6 Walt Gilmore of Ft. Valley State of Georgia.  No second round selection has signed his contract yet.

    WARNER IS only a junior, but his original class will graduate in June, making him eligible for pro ball.

    Gilmore averaged 23.2 this past season and Sorenson, from Findlay, had a 24.6 ppg for the Buckeyes.

    In the third round, Cleveland selected and signed 6-7 Surry Oliver, Little All-American from Stephen F. Austin College.  Buffalo tabbed Virginia's 6-4 guard Chip Case and 6-6 forward Bill Cain of Iowa State went to Portland.  Cain averaged 20.7 points a game and led the Big Eight in rebounding the past two seasons.

    THE FOURTH round produced Glen Vidnovic, spindly 165-pounder from Iowa, for Cleveland, while Buffalo grabbed Erwin Polnick, 6-6 guard from S. F. Austin, and Portland went for  Bowling Green's Jim Penix, the most valuable player in the Mid-American Conference.

    Two Ohio collegians were picked in the fifth round.  Ashland's Wayne Sokolowski by Cleveland, and Central State's Robert Moore by Buffalo.  Portland selected Ron Knight, 6-7 forward from Los Angeles State.

    To all but those significantly close to the NBA, those picked in rounds six through 10 are just names until proven otherwise.

    Only 20 percent of the rookies make it to the big league with established teams, but with Cleveland, Buffalo and Portland, rookies may provide the foundation for next year's teams--especially those picked in the first five rounds.