Apparently, he wasn't kidding. If there is anything we are learning about the new general manager, it is that he has a plan and intends to follow it. Whether it leads in the right direction eventually will depend on other factors, but not for lack of the plan itself.

The Sixers went into last night's NBA draft fairly certain they wouldn't be moving up in the selection order, and just as certain that Marreese Speights, a 6-foot-10 spelling test from St. Petersburg, Fla., would be their pick.

Next season, Speights will learn to play basketball in the NBA, according to the plan. The following season, he will command major minutes at the power-forward position. At that time, the Sixers expect to move Thaddeus Young to the small-forward position full time.

And that brings up the most interesting part of the plan, the one that Stefanski doesn't choose to share just yet. Perhaps because he doesn't know how it will work out, or perhaps because he already does.

Speights, or a player with the same low-post scoring and rebounding potential, was going to be the first-round pick because the Sixers lack size and toughness in there. Samuel Dalembert is a center who tends to drift at times, and they need a power forward who will be rooted to the basket area to do the dirty work.

That was first on the to-do list, and, at least according to Stefanski and assistant general manager Tony DiLeo, Speights represents a check mark next to the chore. He will need time, but you never know. Young wasn't supposed to get on the court as much as he did last season, but his play demanded minutes.

"He needs to be nurtured," Stefanski said of Speights. "Don't expect him to come in and be the star of the team."

The next step in the plan is finding some outside shooting, a need just as desperate. It is a hole that could be filled in a trade or by signing a free agent. The Sixers have to locate a shooting guard who can make three-pointers and force the opponent's defense to play honestly. Stefanski says he has some ideas in that regard, and there's no doubt that he does, and some ideas about getting more depth in the frontcourt, too.

As the dominoes fall, and hopefully fall into place, a few others will tumble off the board. Study the way they are moving, the way they are falling, and it isn't clear how Andre Iguodala fits into the future.

If Speights is the power forward, Young the small forward, and Mystery Acquisition the shooting guard of the future, where does Iguodala play? He's not a point guard. As demonstrated painfully during the brief playoff appearance against Detroit, he's not a shooting guard. And, honestly, are you going to pay him $12 million a year to split time with Young at small forward?

That's where the plan gets sticky.

It's possible that Speights eventually can take minutes at the center position, too, allowing the Sixers to play smaller and quicker when the matchup dictates. That could create more opportunities for Iguodala as things unfold. If he's still here.

It is also possible that Iguodala will be viewed as a chip to be played. The Sixers exercised their right to match any offer received by the restricted free agent. If he finds a willing suitor out there, the Sixers might sign him and trade him to the interested party. If he doesn't, then the Sixers will hold the upper hand, and it's likely Iguodala will never see a contract as good as the $57 million deal he turned down before last season.

These things, like removing the ruby slippers, have to be done delicately. Taking a player from a prestigious position on a team to a lesser role, and with a less lucrative payoff, isn't the formula for having a happy guy in the locker room. Stefanski will have to finesse the situation, at least until he finds out whether Speights can play as well as he hopes.

"When you've got the 16th pick, you just want to get a guy who has a chance," Stefanski said. "This guy has a chance."

Those are mostly concerns for a little later. There is time to make those decisions, and plenty of room to dodge the questions until then.

But as the plan reveals itself one piece at a time - as it did last night, right on schedule and just as advertised - the paths that can be chosen are narrowed. Not everyone will get to take the whole trip. The pieces fall into place, and you wonder down the road whether there still will be a place for Andre Iguodala.