Pelchen said on Thursday afternoon that Hawthorn was not prepared to give up its first-round selection (No.16 overall) to the Swans for O'Keefe.
"It's in an awkward spot at the moment. They said to us that they don't want to consummate a deal with us if it doesn't involve our pick 16," Pelchen said.
"The conversation wasn't heated, but it was basically left saying: 'unless pick 16 is in it, we can't do it'. So that's how we've left it. That's their right. We've got no problem with that. There was no argy-bargy and the talks have been amicable."
Giving up its first-round pick would have left Hawthorn's earliest selection at No. 34, a position it did not want to be in despite the obvious appeal of a player of O'Keefe's talents.
"So what do we expect to give for such a talented player? We've said that we're open to [giving] a second-round player and a talented player [from our list]."
The Swans forward could nominate for the pre-season draft, but with Hawthorn holding last place in the selection order, it would be hard to see him being passed over by other clubs until then.
With Pelchen admitting it was now unlikely O'Keefe would become a Hawk, there would appear to be more room for the club to pursue versatile Demon Brad Green.
But Pelchen said Green was not back in the frame, despite being linked with Hawthorn earlier in the week.
