It was Dean Garrett, of all people, who was talking the other day about the liberation of being traded from a losing team to a playoff contender.

Garrett made that sort of happy move a few years ago, when he got dealt from the Denver Nuggets back to the Wolves in January 1999. Coincidentally, he made a move in reverse Thursday when he got shipped to last-place Golden State for center/forward Marc Jackson.

"Your practice habits have to change," Garrett said of the lucky ones who get sprung. "You've been losing, and your mentality of coming into work is so different. You weren't playing for anything, and now you're playing for the playoffs.

"I didn't realize how different it can be until I came back. Kevin [Garnett] made a comment about it, and it stuck with me."

It would stick with Jackson, too, if only his practice habits had slid the way some players' do when facing an NBA dead end.

Arriving from Milwaukee, after a plane change in Memphis and a physical exam soon after reaching Texas, Jackson spent nearly two hours on the court in his first practice with his new team Friday at the Alamodome.