Van Exel eady to suit up as a Warrior

[EricaLubarsky]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...PGBJ24U8K1.DTL
from SFGate.com

Laie, Hawaii -- Nick Van Exel gave up about $13 million to go to the Dallas Mavericks. To him, it was worth almost every penny.

Van Exel loved playing in such a potent offense. He loved that, in Dallas,

"I got a chance to be back in the NBA again'' after 3 1/2 seasons of struggle in Denver, even though he came off the bench behind All-Star point guard Steve Nash.

He loved how teammates did not argue in a game or practice -- "which is unbelievable,'' he said. And, most of all, he loved having a realistic chance to win a championship, which is why as part of his trade from the Nuggets to Dallas on Feb. 21, 2002, he agreed to make the last year of his seven-year, $77 million contract (2005-06) a team option.

"I left $13 or $14 million on the table so I can win basketball games,'' Van Exel said.

So when Van Exel, two months removed from a dazzling playoff run for a Western Conference finalist, learned that he had been traded to the team with the longest-active playoff drought in the NBA, he curbed his enthusiasm. His silence was not golden; he did not return calls from Warriors officials ("I haven't returned a call since I got in the league, whether it's Mark Cuban or Jerry West,'' he said) and never traveled from his offseason home in Houston to Oakland for an introductory news conference.

"How would you feel (about being dealt)? Answer that question,'' he said to a reporter, waiting for a response.

Van Exel, 31, answered several on his own -- ding, ding, ding as far as the Warriors are concerned, because, despite speculation that he wanted out before he was even in, the 10-year veteran said his outlook has changed. He has warmed to the idea of leading the revamped Warriors and playing for a coach, Eric Musselman, who figures to give him as much offensive freedom as he enjoyed under Dallas' Don Nelson.

"Right now, I'm good with it,'' said Van Exel, who, along with the other players with at least four years of NBA service, practiced for the first time Friday at the Cannon Activities Center on the campus of BYU-Hawaii.

"I wasn't disappointed by the fact that I got traded to Golden State,'' said Van Exel, speaking at length about becoming a Warrior for the first time since the nine-player trade Aug. 18. "I was more disappointed by the fact that I was closer to winning a championship in Dallas, not disappointed that I got sent here, because this is a pretty good opportunity because I get to start again and play a little bit more minutes. ... I'm not going to say I was doing back flips when I got traded, but I wasn't going to kill myself either.

"After looking at the situation and realizing that there are a lot worse places I could be at in the world other than an NBA player, this is a great opportunity for me. I'd love to go out here and try to get to where they want to be at.''

That would be the playoffs, which the Warriors have not reached since 1993-94, Van Exel's rookie season.

"It's motivation for me, but I feel that this team last year under Musselman, that they were sort of building themselves into something pretty good and something that the league was starting to look at,'' Van Exel said. "So I'm not looking at coming in and being a savior because those guys were doing this on their own last season. But with my help and the other veteran guys', I think we will all feel happy if we can do it.''

Van Exel shined in the playoffs last season, scoring at least 35 points three times and, in what he called some of the best basketball of his career, averaging a team-high 25.3 points in the seven-game series against Sacramento in the conference semifinals.

Warriors special assistant Chris Mullin finds similarities between Van Exel and former teammate Tim Hardaway. Van Exel constantly pressures a defense and relishes having the ball in crunch time, just as Hardaway did in his prime.

"He's always got something going where you have to pay attention to him, '' Mullin said. "When the guy with the ball in his hands has the ability to shoot a 3, has the mid-range game and is a pretty good passer, that's someone who you can play with.

"He's going to love playing for Eric. The guy's got the green light -- I don't know any guy who doesn't want to hear that. That's a pretty good way to get things going.''

How long will things last? Van Exel can opt out of his contract after the season, which would mean walking away from a guaranteed $11.8 million in 2004- 05. Warriors officials have said it's premature to talk about once again guaranteeing the last year of his deal.

Van Exel is keeping an open mind about his future with the Warriors.

"I would love to be a Warrior'' long term, Van Exel said. "I want to be somewhere where that team wants me. Golden State traded for me, so that shows that it has interest in me as a basketball player. That in itself makes it a good deal. If they came to me and everything was right, of course I'd love to play for Golden State.''

E-mail Brad Weinstein at bweinstein@sfchronicle.com.