Maurice Cheeks is more than open to the possibility of another contract extension. But yesterday, as he was conducting exit interviews with the 76ers players, he seemed in no hurry.

"We'll talk about it," he said. "I just need to sit down and think about it."

Cheeks was in the final leg of his 3-year contract when Eddie Stefanski replaced Billy King as the team's president/general manager in December. Stefanski asked for time to evaluate Cheeks and everyone else in the organization, then gave Cheeks a $2.5-million extension for next season.

Thursday, Stefanski said he was planning to speak with Cheeks about another extension. Cheeks said just raising the subject was "a big-time compliment."

The Sixers finished 40-42 after an 18-30 start, reaching the postseason for the first time in Cheeks' tenure. They were eliminated from the first round with Thursday night's 100-77 loss to the Pistons, losing the best-of-seven series, 4-2.

That performance notwithstanding, Cheeks said, "Our players played hard every night, and that's what a coach wants."

"There were times it was tough, when we weren't playing well and people weren't coming to watch us," he said. "But we played hard, and as a result we got some wins."

Six shots

"I had my [exit] meeting, and it was brutally honest," Rodney Carney said. "They said the potential's there. I have to work my butt off this summer, come back a little better. They want me to [play] more like [the Pistons'] Rip Hamilton, to come off screens, use my energy. I'm down for that" . . . Shavlik Randolph, trying to regain his form after suffering a fractured and dislocated ankle, appeared in just nine games all season for 27 1/2 minutes. "I've been pretty close to 100 percent about the whole second half of the season," he said. "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't frustrating and discouraging at points. All I can do is look forward to a summer where I can actually work and improve my game" . . . Rookie Thaddeus Young, after splitting time at both forward positions, prefers the "three" (small forward]. "Those [power forwards] are very big," he said, laughing. "They're a little too big. I look at those guys and say, 'Look, you don't need to be playing basketball. You need to get another job, football or something.' Those guys live and eat basketball. You've just got to come back stronger." *