Plenty of pick 'ems

Hey, they call these things ``mocks" for a reason. But, this time around, it's somewhat reassuring that even the decision-makers aren't that clear about what's going to happen tonight in the NBA draft. Like, for instance, who's going to be the first pick?

Count the Celtics among those who are hard to read. They may even end up without a pick. The team was talking yesterday with Portland about acquiring point guard Sebastian Telfair, the 13th overall pick in the 2004 draft. The Celtics would love to send Dan Dickau along with the seventh pick, but there was also a chance the Celtics could use a trade exception in which to welcome Telfair. There was no word on whether the Celtics would get an additional pick, either this year (Portland has the 30th and 31st picks ) or down the road. Telfair averaged 8.1 points and 3.5 assists in his two seasons in Portland, playing almost 22 minutes a game.

There also was continuing dialogue between the Celtics and a number of teams to bring Allen Iverson to Boston. This is something that apparently is not time sensitive, at least for the draft, and would include a number of teams. It would mean parting ways with Wally Szczerbiak, but, given Iverson's enormous appeal, it would be a no-brainer for the owners. Iverson, who turned 31 June 7, still has something left in his apparently bottomless tank. He's also on the books for the next three years at an average of $20 million per season.

As for the mock, the Raptors apparently have decided to make the first overall pick; they may trade to get another in the top 10 because Seattle put a ``For Sale" sign on the 10th pick and had no shortage of sealed envelopes in its box. That, along with the Raptors' interest in Spanish League forward Jorge Garbajosa, might have caused some to wonder about Toronto's intentions.

This is the first time in memory that the No. 1 pick, and, subsequently, all those that follow, has been so hard to peg.