The Hawks don’t need Harrington, since they’re not going anywhere. But they do need help over the long term, and Harrington is scheduled to depart via free agency. The Hawks failed to do anything with their star forward by the deadline, even though there were plenty of playoff-bound suitors who could use his 18 points and seven boards per game.

Perhaps Atlanta asked too high a price for the 26-year-old, in his eighth NBA season. The inactivity could not, however, be attributed to the Hawks’ concern that any disruption at this point in the season might hurt their playoff chances.

The Sixers always seem to be chattering about Iverson at this time of year, but never come close to actually cutting ties with their star guard. Although they’ve put some talented players around him like Andre Iguodala, Chris Webber and Samuel Dalembert, they’ll always be driven by their diminutive tattoo model.

This might have been a good time for Philly to change direction, deal Iverson and remake their chemistry. But instead the Sixers chose to do nothing, which is what they’ll do again in the playoffs this year, assuming they hold on to their No. 8 spot.

The Nuggets, who lead the Northwest Division, entertained the possibility of trading away Kenyon Martin, who has a fat contract to go with his sore knees. They probably couldn’t find any takers. They did, however, participate in the big four-team trade, acquiring Ruben Patterson and Reggie Evans. That will provide some depth to their injury-riddled roster.

There had been rumors that the Bulls wanted to trade one of their youngsters for an established star. The likely man out in Chicago looked to be Gordon, who reportedly wants out. Meanwhile, the Celtics are going nowhere with Pierce. A trade involving those players would have been ideal to jolt the disappointing Bulls toward making a push toward the postseason, and to revamp the desultory Celtics. But again, when it requires front-office gumption these days, certain people hide under their desks.

In this age of instantaneous communication, it seems people in NBA offices aren’t talking to each other as much as they used to.

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