Stay cool, Philly, for an answer on The Answer

Updated: December 12, 2006, 1:27 AM ET

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By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
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The message transmitted Sunday from a variety of front-office executives around the league: Philly is trying to trade Allen Iverson as fast as it can.

Sayeth one of those execs: "The feeling I get is that they want to do this in a matter of days."

The feeling I have in response: Mistake!

I get what they're trying to do. Get the word out that they intend to move quickly and perhaps someone, feeling pressure that they'll miss out otherwise, steps right up with a winning proposal.

However . . .

As I was reminded by a Western Conference personnel man Saturday, Sixers president Billy King is a Donnie Walsh disciple, having spent his first four NBA seasons with the Pacers. You'll recall that Walsh was thrust into a similar predicament in Indiana by Ron Artest almost exactly a year ago.

How did Walsh play it?

Patiently ... and expertly. He wasn't afraid to let the rumor mill crank up, subjected his poor ears (and blood pressure) to thousands of phone calls, gradually got teams bidding against each other and ultimately managed to create a market for Artest when conventional wisdom said he'd get nothing for a reputed chemistry-killer who just publicly demanded a trade.

Walsh wound up landing Peja Stojakovic from Sacramento for Artest -- a quality return under the circumstances -- after first convincing the Los Angeles Clippers to part with Corey Maggette in a deal that ultimately was canceled over concerns about Maggette's health. Walsh then flashed his salvage skills again by pulling out a sign-and-trade with the Hornets over the summer that led to the acquisition of Al Harrington after Stojakovic plunged the Pacers into fresh peril by committing to sign with New Orleans/Oklahoma City.

King is obviously no Walsh, as a longstanding pattern of questionable spending with the Sixers suggests, but he's undeniably positioned to approach this in Walsh-like fashion.

So why wouldn't he?

Having held onto Iverson this long -- and after shopping him so openly in the summer and then pulling him off the market, all but guaranteeing this meltdown -- why would the Sixers rush into an emotional decision now?

To get back in the playoff hunt? Playoffs?

Sorry. Philly needs the highest possible draft pick in June a lot more than it would benefit from trying to rally out of this 5-14 start for the right to lose in the first round of the playoffs, even if they reside in an Atlantic Division where you're never too far from first place. Winning just two games in the past 35 days, painful as it is to admit, is actually helping the Sixers' long-term outlook. These guys need a top-three pick in the 2007 draft ... badly.

The best part? Iverson has done the hard part for them. This isn't like the summer, when it was King actively shopping Iverson and thus risking a heavy fan backlash, depending on the return package, because of Iverson's iconic status in the city. This time, Philly finally took a hard-line stance with Iverson on disciplinary matters -- albeit a few years too late, cynics would point out -- which prompted Iverson to take the initiative and ask to be set free.

That takes a good bit of external heat off the Sixers, as does the advent of the inactive list that Walsh deftly used to his advantage last winter.

Before last season, while waiting for a deal to be struck, Philly would have been required to suspend Iverson to keep him away from the team as it now plans. The old rules also stipulated that teams could not suspend players with pay. So the Sixers would have been forced to stop Iverson's checks if they wanted him out of the locker room. Iverson and the Players Association would have never stood for that. Sequestering Iverson under those conditions, at a time when he insists that he's healthy enough to play, would be virtually impossible.

With the new rules ushered in last season, Iverson will get every cent of this season's $17.2 million salary. A paid vacation, in other words, until Philly finds a trade partner.

So we ask again: What's the rush? The NBA trading deadline is 74 days away. Iverson is on paid leave. The uncertainty of Iverson's future obviously will hang over the team until this reaches a conclusion, but so what? Iverson demanding a new address actually gives the Sixers an out if anyone accuses them of tanking to get a better draft pick in June.

The Sixers have to do what's best for the organization and their fans. Unless there's a knockout offer on the table that simply hasn't made the rounds yet, what's best is taking their time and making the best Iverson trade you possibly can make before the Feb. 22 trade buzzer. Philly doesn't even have to worry about sending Iverson somewhere that'll make him happy, as a thank you for his decade-plus of service, because he asked out.

How do I know this is the way to go?

Because that's what King's mentor did. I'm quite sure Walsh, if he could permit himself to help an Eastern Conference rival and advise King, would offer one one-word counsel.

"Wait."

Most teams have played 20 games or so, meaning that only a handful are ready to contemplate the philosophical hugeness of an Iverson bid. After 40 games, more will be in a place to give it more serious thought.

For the Sixers' sake, here's hoping that message somehow was piped in Sunday during their all-day organizational meetings to plot strategy.

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here.