Seattle ? In the back of his mind, Nick Collison knew there would be a day when the Seattle SuperSonics would ask him to play center.

When that day arrived, the 6-foot-9 power forward didn’t fully embrace the idea.

“Before I started playing, I didn’t know if I’d be able to do it,” Collison said of playing the pivot.

“In my head, I’m thinking NBA centers are guys like Shaq (O’Neal), Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing … guys like that.”

Chances are Collison — entering his third season since he left Kansas University — won’t end up roaming the lane against bigger bodies often this season.

First-year Seattle coach Bob Weiss has said he wanted to bring Collison off the bench at power forward, which is where Collison was more comfortable.

But when Weiss opts to bring in 6-8 Danny Fortson and Collison together for Reggie Evans and the center, whoever emerges at that spot, Collison realizes that he will often end up in the middle of the lane. He’s perfectly fine with it.

“The way the league is now, there’s not too many huge guys anymore,” he said. “And when you play against those guys, you get a lot of help anyway. I found that I was a lot better at it (playing center) than I thought that I was.”

That was evident in last week’s 108-95 exhibition victory over Golden State.

Collison scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds in 19 minutes as a reserve.

He was teamed with 6-8 Danny Fortson — who had two rebounds and seven points in 12 minutes — to give the Sonics good production in the low post.

It was the first time Collison and Fortson had played prolonged minutes together during exhibition play. Fortson had been slowed by a turf-toe injury and is working his way into playing shape.

The success of Fortson and Collison off the bench wasn’t lost on Weiss.

“I loved it,” Weiss said. “I like him (Collison) coming off the bench with Danny. This was the first time that we’ve been able to do that. They play well together. It’s a lot for other teams to handle, keeping them off the boards.”

Collison — who averaged 7.8 points and 6.5 rebounds in six exhibition games — insists he’s not at a disadvantage because of his size, especially when he and Fortson are on the floor at the same time.

“Those spots are almost interchangeable,” Collison said of power forward and center. “I don’t know if it makes much of a difference which position I play.”

After missing his rookie season because of surgery on both shoulders, Collison played in all 82 games last season — four as a starter — averaging 5.4 points and 4.6 rebounds.

“I think I’m more used to coming off the bench, because that’s what I’ve done so far,” Collison said. “I think I can start and play well. I don’t know if (success against Golden State) had to do with me coming off the bench or not.”

In a Seattle personnel move, Weiss said the team kept Mateen Cleaves and cut Alex Scales and Noel Felix primarily because of a need for backcourt help. “We liked those guys, but with Rick Brunson’s plantar fasciitis, we felt we needed another point guard,” Weiss said.