The Indiana Pacers attempt at a sign-and-trade deal with the Boston Celtics is at a stalemate. Wars have been won and lost quicker than this "deal" which both teams have worked on for more than three weeks. According to Mike Wells, the potential transaction is no closer to completion than when Larry Bird and Danny Ainge conjured up the idea.

Wells reports that the Pacers are decidedly uninterested in the who the Celtics keep offering for Marquis Daniels. Boston has offered several players and the latest is Tony Allen. Both teams have also searched far and wide for a third team to step in and help complete the deal, but none have wanted to touch it with a 10-foot pole. Where is Kevin McHale when you need him?

Despite the extreme lengthening time of the deal, Daniels will still be headed to Boston no matter how long it takes. His return to Indianapolis will occur on Nov. 14 this season. Or at least that's the plan. With the way this deal is going, Daniels might not make it to Boston by April. For more links, check after the jump.

The other Pacers news of today is another update on Mike Dunleavy's return from his knee injury. This time, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Dunleavy, who made no mention of his recovery in his latest blog post, is having a "remarkable" recovery.

Wojnarowski wrote: "Pacers' Mike Dunleavy has made "remarkable" recovery from knee surgery and source close to him says he could return "very early" in season."

Dunleavy was originally expected to return to the Pacers no earlier than January, but recent reports by the Indianapolis Star suggested he would be back on the hardwood even earlier. I would assume a "very early" return would be a late-November or December comeback.

• Mike Wells dives into the NBA schedule released yesterday and finds that the Pacers will have their defense tested in the first games of the season.
• Wells also wonders if fans are drinking a little too much Kool-aid when thinking about the Pacers' chances next season.
• Former Indiana Pacers player Primoz Brezec is expected to sign with the 76ers.
• If you're wanting to keep tabs on the NBA and the Player's Union negotiations, the two sides just held the first of many collective bargaining talks.