As president and general manager of the Sixers, Stefanski will order up the local foodstuffs when potential free agents visit. He'll spin the pressure of playing in Philadelphia as a positive, the happy by-product of passionate fans. He'll sell the city as a great place to live and, because he's a Philly guy, he'll be convincing.

And it won't mean a thing. The only part of the sales pitch that matters is the part after the dollar sign.

"The money helps," Stefanski said the other day. "Let's not kid anybody. The money helps."

The opening day of NBA free agency finds the first-year Sixers executive in a fascinating position. For the first time in too many years, the Sixers will go into the marketplace with some salary-cap space to play with. The roughly $11 million is burning a hole in the collective pocket of Sixers fans, who have been window-shopping for big names like Elton Brand and Corey Maggette and Josh Smith.

Not only do the Sixers have the money, but they also won't have much competition in the market. Memphis is the only other team with enough cap room to be really aggressive in free agency.

Trouble is, Stefanski may find the shelves stocked with somewhat less attractive players by the time he can quick-draw his checkbook from its holster. Case in point: Twenty-four hours ago, Washington forward Antawn Jamison was on the shopping list. Sixteen hours later, Jamison had a new contract with the Wizards.

The Sixers could find themselves in the spot the Eagles were in back in 1999, Andy Reid's first off-season as coach. In desperate need of wide receivers (imagine that) and flush with cap space, the Eagles rushed out and locked up the best players available.

Unfortunately, the best players available were Torrance Small and Charles Johnson.

If the market breaks that way, Stefanski has another option. He can use the cap space to trade for a few more pieces to the Sixers' puzzle, but that means getting the cooperation of other teams, and it also means giving up players or draft picks in return.

The degree of difficulty for Stefanski is even higher because, frankly, keeping the money in his pocket is not an option - even if it proves to be the smartest play. He has been touting this summer and the opportunity to land a top player far too enthusiastically to get away with passing on what could be a ho-hum market.

That kind of pressure can lead to moves that make headlines but turn out to be long-term mistakes. Stefanski's challenge will be making a splashy signing or trade that doesn't wind up dragging him and his team to the bottom.

Starting today, we'll get a glimpse of Stefanski's plan. Maybe the most encouraging aspect of the situation is the team he'll be working to improve.

That's not because of the Sixers' late-season run to a playoff berth, either. While that was certainly fun to watch, it would be a mistake for us (or Stefanski) to read too much into it. For the purposes of building for the future, Stefanski would be better off viewing the Sixers as a sub-.500 team, which is what they were.

What's encouraging is that, for the first time in a couple of NBA generations, the Sixers are adding players to fit a system, an approach to basketball, instead of trying to build around a problematic star player.

Whether it was Charles Barkley, the undersize big man, or Allen Iverson, the smallest superstar in the sport, the Sixers have spent 20 years trying to complete a puzzle around singularly odd-shaped pieces. Once Iverson was traded and the team bought out Chris Webber - the last of the uncomplementary complements - the handcuffs were off the franchise.

When first-round draft pick Marreese Speights was introduced the other day, he wasn't asked whether he thought he could play with Iverson. He was asked what he knew about the Sixers, and he replied that they play an up-tempo game that favors his abilities.

That's the right way to build a team, adding character players who fit your style rather than scrounging around for players with different styles to join your characters.

The current template for championship-team-building, the Boston Celtics, isn't of much use to these Sixers. They went out last summer and added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to a roster that included mainstay Paul Pierce. Well, the Sixers don't have a linchpin player as good as Pierce. Their approach has to be as simple as adding the best available talent at every possible turn.

Stefanski has the money. He even has the cheesesteaks. Now it's a matter of who's available for that sales pitch.