Seattle ? For a full season, Nick Collison reported to the Furtado Center one hour early, every day, whether the schedule said home or away. He stretched. He swam. He did whatever his shoulders allowed.

He had surgery on his left in October 2003, his right in February 2004.

Rehabilitation devoured his would-be rookie season. Even then, it was a small part of his day. The sockets could take only so much stress.

So he stopped about 1 p.m., with empty hours ahead. The days were especially dull when his teammates were on the road.

He watched a lot of television. He walked around Seattle. He went to the mall. He looked for a house and bought one on Lake Washington around the holidays.

He used to hang out in the post. That year, he had a table at Peso’s on Queen Anne Avenue. No offense to the habanero sauce, but he preferred his hardwood digs.

“It was a tough year, more boring than anything,” he said. “I didn’t have a point where I felt really depressed, but every day I did the same thing: Come in, do my rehab, watch practice. If the team was on the road, I did the rehab on my own. It was frustrating. I wanted to be playing.”

He finally had the chance last season, even if it took some time to figure out precisely how the NBA was different from the Big 12. By the spring, though, he was part of Nate McMillan’s rotation.

His season-highs in minutes, field goals, defensive rebounds and points all came in the final month of the regular season.

Collison averaged almost 20 minutes per game in the playoffs.

The grand design of new coach Bob Weiss prescribes that he will play even more this season.

He has had a “consistent” camp, standout Sonics guard Ray Allen said. Collison is, by all measures, an established pro basketball forward.

“He’s an all-around good basketball player,” Weiss said of the All-American out of Kansas University. “He hustles. He can shoot. He goes inside. He can pass. He’s a great off-ball defender. Very versatile.”

Despite what has become a worrisome foot injury to Vladimir Radmanovic, Weiss has indicated he prefers Collison to play – and play often – off the bench. Reggie Evans, who Weiss praised on Sunday, is the likely starter.

Collison is fine with that.

He would start if he had his choice. But minutes are minutes.

“The season is so long,” he said. “Minutes change. I want to be the guy that, at the end of the year, their best lineup is with me on the court. Whether I start, it’s not that big of a deal.”

Starter or reserve, Collison’s future with the Sonics is secure. Last week, the organization exercised its fourth-year option on both Collison and guard Luke Ridnour. They are neighbors – Ridnour lives a mile away – off-season training partners, and friends.

“We’re real close,” Collison said. “As rookies, he was doing the same things I was. We’re pretty similar people. I think we would’ve been friends if we grew up together.”

Some point to Collison and Ridnour as the franchise’s future identity. Collison is familiar with the characterization. He is wary of it, too.

“At this point, a lot of it is still speculation,” Collison said. “I played well in spurts last year. I realize they’re planning that way. But for me, I feel like I have to go out and earn that title.

“We still have a long way to go as far as making us the cornerstones of the organization.”

Collison, who appeared in all 82 regular-season games and in every playoff game last season, feels fortunate, though.

He has noticed how many NBA players do not seem to fit with the systems their teams and coaches implement. He is pleased to not be among them.

He is at ease in Seattle, too, and spent most of his summer here.

He and Ridnour were fixtures at the gym, shooting almost every day immediately after the Fourth of July.

“This year,” he said, “I’m just playing the games.”