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.

(This will NOT be the Shaq you’ll see next season.)

Marc Stein had some interesting somewhat-Celtics-related tidbits today. The first? Shaq-tis. The Big Fella might come cheaper than we thought — at this point, no team is willing to pay him more than $2 million.

The Mavericks have abandoned the idea of a Shaq signing completely — “He is out,” according to one team source — since they have four centers currently on the roster until they can move the very available Alexis Ajinca. Atlanta, then, stands as the only team with a confirmed “live” interest in O’Neal. But Shaq, at last report, still wants assurances of a healthy slice of playing time as well as a salary that starts above the $5.8 million mid-level exception, which can be achieved through a sign-and-trade with Cleveland. No team out there, including Atlanta, is known to be willing to pay Shaq more than $2 million for next season.

As I wrote earlier, Shaq keeps looking better and better. Offseason beer goggles, son.

The next tidbit from Stein: Jason Kapono is available.

I’ve been advised that Philadelphia, with its surplus of swingmen, is open to moving sharpshooter Jason Kapono, who has one season left on his contract at $6.6 million. Kapono is a natural target for teams in the hunt for a perimeter specialist with Mike Miller and Kyle Korver getting snapped up early in free agency.

Red’s Army suggests Kapono could be an option for the C’s. I have serious, serious doubts. He couldn’t defend my mom. But he can shoot and he plays the three spot. That alone makes him valuable to the C’s right now, even though I am currently smashing my head against a wall.

Lastly, the Heat are looking at Mike Finley to possibly help round out their roster.

Two former All-Stars whom the Heat are far more likely to consider: Jerry Stackhouse and Michael Finley.

I wish Grandpa Finley luck in joining the Heat. Partially because he seems like a really good guy and all and partially because he wouldn’t help them one bit.