Interested parties await answer

PHILADELPHIA -- Yesterday, shortly before 5 p.m., 76ers senior vice president of basketball operations Tony DiLeo sat alone courtside, a phone piece attached firmly to his ear. He was obviously deep in conversation with someone.

I've known Tony since the early 1990s, back when he was an eager young scout for Philadelphia, so I sauntered over to say hello.

No such luck. As soon as he saw me coming, DiLeo turned and walked away. Briskly. You might even upgrade that to a slight jog.

"I'm not talking to you, either," announced Sixers president Billy King moments later.

A few Celtics watched these exchanges with interest. They were all wondering who was the latest to be featured in the Allen Iverson fire sale.

"So, what are they saying?" Ryan Gomes asked casually.

Nothing, but that in itself said volumes.

Iverson wasn't at the Wachovia Center last night, but he was omnipresent, on the minds of his soon-to-be-former Philly teammates as well as his maybe-I'll-join-you friends in the Boston locker room.

Multiple league sources said yesterday the Celtics remain in the hunt for the soon-to-be ex-Sixers star, who has cleaned out his locker and washed his hands of the only franchise for which he has ever played. Yet Danny Ainge told the Globe's Shira Springer last night his club's chance of pulling off a deal for A.I. were "slim."

Boston will remain a viable option until the bitter end because it possesses three things Philadelphia is seeking: an expiring contract, young players, and a first-round draft pick.

The Sixers' wish list predictably included Al Jefferson and Gerald Green, which thankfully gave the Celtics' brain trust pause. To even suggest trading Jefferson when the team has no healthy frontcourt players is absurd. I'm not predicting Jefferson will morph into another Jermaine O'Neal, but he is only 21 years old, and a steadily improving work in progress. The best news was that Jefferson's ankle was a serious issue last season, not a case of a young stud with a low pain threshold who was dogging it, as some of his teammates privately suspected.

Jefferson isn't there yet, but remember O'Neal's numbers in his first four seasons in the league were so underwhelming (averages of 3.7 points and 3 rebounds a game) that he was declared a bust by Portland and shipped along with Joe Kleine to Indiana for Dale Davis. The next season, O'Neal blossomed, and he is now a four-time All-Star.

I'm already on the record as not being interested in Iverson at any price. He's 30 years old, under 6 feet, beat up, plays very little defense (don't be fooled by his gaudy steals -- they are not indicative of his overall deficiencies), and refuses to practice. He plays big, he plays hurt, and he plays hard, but he dominates the ball, has atrocious off-the-court habits, and is a coach killer. He would make Paul Pierce rue the day he publicly campaigned to bring him aboard.

And still the question lingers: Will a package that includes some combination of Theo Ratliff, a first-round pick (the last thing Boston needs is more not-ready-for-prime-time talent), Ryan Gomes, and Delonte West be enough for the Sixers to swallow hard and break the unwritten rule of trading within the division? Don't underestimate the weight of that issue. It's akin to dating your best friend's ex-girlfriend. All you're doing is asking for trouble.

The Sixers want no part of Ratliff -- can you blame them? -- but they have less interest in Wally Szczerbiak, who has three years remaining on his contract and serves the same function as young Kyle Korver, which is to shoot, and shoot some more. They don't like Sebastian Telfair either, but he could become a necessity to make the numbers work.

No wonder "slim" is the operative word for the Celtics at the moment.

This much we do know: If Golden State was willing to part with Jason Richardson, this would all be over by now. Ditto had the Sixers been able to pry Shaun Livingston from the Clippers' grasp.

It's hard to fathom the Sixers settling for someone else's headaches (sorry Indiana, that includes Stephen Jackson and Jamaal Tinsley). You wonder about Minnesota, who has the player (Randy Foye) the Sixers coveted on draft day and a player (Kevin Garnett) Iverson would love to cozy up alongside. Naturally, the required flotsam and jetsam would have to be hammered out to make the numbers work.

Miami is also in the mix, president and coach Pat Riley telling the Associated Press he has a "level of interest" with a package that might include James Posey, Jason Williams, and Dorell Wright.

Boston's locker room was ripe last night with anxious young guys who wondered what it would be like to play in this building with guys such as Andre Iguodala and Korver. Most of them were hoping never to find out. "For us young guys, it's a little unsettling," admitted Gomes. "You get to thinking, 'Oh man, I'm going to be in one place for a long time,' and then all of sudden you realize that could change."

Gomes has been a mainstay on a very sporadic Celtics team. Even so, as one team official conceded, "If it's the right group of guys, we'd have to consider it."

The air is ripe in Boston for such a blockbuster. Attendance is abysmal and the coach and general manager are under tremendous pressure. The Celtics owners crave exciting offensive players (see their unabashed enthusiasm for the combustible Ricky Davis, who was a nightmare in the locker room because of his selfishness). Iverson will undoubtedly sell tickets -- in the short term anyhow.

As another day came and went with Iverson in limbo, speculation continued that the Sixers were in no hurry to trade their petulant star, even though the team lost its ninth straight game amid a chorus of boos. After all, next June's draft is loaded, with Greg Oden the grand prize.

If Philly is trying to tank, it's news to coach Maurice Cheeks, perhaps the most dignified Sixer of all time. "We could really use a W," he said.

"No one is happy with losing," said Samuel Dalembert. "It's true we don't know what's happening. We are building, that much we know. But are we going to blow the whole thing up? Are we only partially rebuilding? Will some of us go, too? Any of us could be traded at any time."

DiLeo would neither confirm nor deny that statement. When I finally caught up with him, I said, "Tony, you were running away from me."

"Yes," he said smiling, "I was."

The wire was still in his ear. The phone started ringing.

And then he was gone again.

Jackie MacMullan is a Globe columnist. Her e-mail address is macmullan@globe.com.