He was playing on a modest, 1-year tender, gambling that agent Rob Pelinka could negotiate a megadeal extension. He was, he has said, ready to do that again, leaving restricted free agency behind and becoming unrestricted at the end of this season.

"Andre did an excellent job of not focusing on [the contract situation]," 76ers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "He went out and played the best he could. He did a heckuva job of just going out and playing the game. You'd be surprised at the way players have to put things aside and go out and play. Having said that, I think he'll still be the focused player he was."

Whatever might have been churning beneath the surface is history. Patience turned out to be a virtue, because Iguodala arrived at training camp armed with a 6-year $80 million agreement signed last month. But he said: "No, I'm not patient at all. I seemed patient, but I'm not patient.

"Last year helped me a lot with that," he said after sitting out yesterday morning's practice with a mildly sprained left ankle. "I don't like to wait around. I like to go get what I've got to get, keep it moving. My philosophy is, take everything in like it's a worst-case scenario. I always think, 'What's the worst thing that can happen?' and just try and work around that. It's kind of like being prepared for any situation."

All that is left is to determine exactly where he fits in the seemingly stronger, deeper scheme of things. Does he become the shooting guard ("2") in a lineup with second-year man Thaddeus Young at small forward ("3")? Does he play "3," allowing somebody else - Kareem Rush, Willie Green, et al. - open in the backcourt, in turn setting the stage for Young and firecracker guard Lou Williams to inject speed, offense and defensive pressure off the bench?

Cheeks has been somewhat coy about lineups and positions, saying, "We've never said [Iguodala] was going to switch to '2' as yet.

"Even if he does, it might be hard to tell, because the '2' and '3' are largely interchangeable. For the sake of argument, if he was playing the '2,' he probably would still be guarding the '3' because he's going to be our best defender. He'd be guarding the best opposing [wing] player, whether that guy is a '2' or '3.' "

For the third time in his four seasons, Iguodala started all 82 regular-season games, averaging a career-best 19.9 points, expanding his versatility with 5.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.09 steals in 39.5 minutes. He and Washington's Caron Butler became the only players in the NBA to average at least 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. He dropped to 13.2 points, shooting a weak 33.3 percent in six playoff games against Detroit, unable to crack the Pistons' swarming defense that was dedicated to cutting off his options. In fairness, that was as much a function of the Sixers' lack of a low-post presence, a scorer and rebounder to draw some of the coverage away from the perimeter.

Enter Elton Brand, late of the Los Angeles Clippers, signed to a 5-year $79.8 million. The difference in the makeup of the refurbished roster was apparent as soon as the players began competing in precamp pickup ball at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, their practice site. Brand was already imposing his will, a characteristic Iguodala welcomed and appreciated.

"We played pickup a few times, and he was like, ' 'Dre, don't turn the ball over.' He tells me straight up. I can take that. [Meanwhile], he might miss a game-winning shot and I can say, 'I can do that.' He's cool in that respect."

Brand is also cool in terms of his resume, a two-time All-Star with career averages of 20 points and 10 rebounds, a willing passer.

"I look at it two ways," Iguodala said. "Either I'm going to score a whole lot of points or everybody else is going to be going to work. It's going to be really hard to key in [on one guy]. I feel like you're going to have to pick your poison. Just playing with Elton last week opened my eyes. It's kind of like playing with Andre Miller. You don't realize how good a player is until you play with him."

Patience, Andre. Patience. *