After swinging and apparently whiffing in an attempt to acquire Jared Dudley, Grant Hill or Mickael Pietrus, the Boston Celtics are now looking elsewhere to satisfy their small forward needs. (Boston Herald)

Among the places the Celtics have looked is Phoenix. Three sources confirmed the clubs spoke about three Suns wings — former Boston College star Jared Dudley, Grant Hill and Mickael Pietrus.

Dudley’s defensive abilities would make him a strong fit with the Celtics, and all three could certainly help. But those talks fizzled out.

“That looks like it’s gone,” said one source, “but you never know.”

It may be more likely a new Celtic comes from a group of players who’ve been mentioned as potential buyout candidates — Morris Peterson, Jason Kapono, Rasual Butler and Sasha Pavlovic among them.

The moral of the story: If you’re a small forward who has a pulse (and, in Sasha Pavlovic’s case, even if you don’t have a pulse), Danny Ainge is inquiring about your availability. Unfortunately for Boston, none of these four players (with the possible exception of Butler) would make the Celtics any better.

Peterson hasn’t been relevant since the Bush administration, Kapono’s a step down from Von Wafer, and Pavlovic wouldn’t score 20 points a game in my high school league. Butler could work, but he’s no sure-thing home run. Just a lazy fly ball that has a chance if the wind really, really picks up.