The story had been rumored on the Internet. There had been a mild buzz in the course of the early games in the Olympic qualifying tournament. But it took until nearly the end of the second round before a source would confirm that the 76ers had negotiated with the agent for Andres Nocioni, a starting forward for Argentina.

Those discussions began in June, but ended because the 6-6 Nocioni is under contract to Tau Ceramica in the Spanish professional league. His agreement with that team includes a large buyout clause.

The source indicated that the Sixers might revisit the situation before the 2004-05 NBA season.

Nocioni leads Argentina with a 13.4 scoring average and .559 floor percentage in eight games in the tournament. He leads the tournament in three-point percentage at .591, knocking down 13 of 22 attempts.