New Dallas point guard Nick Van Exel worked out with his new team Wednesday at the Timberwolves' practice facility ? a place he thought he'd be practicing every day barely a month ago.

Van Exel said that as the Feb. 21 trading deadline approached, "I thought if I wasn't going to be in Denver, it would be Minnesota. That's who we had a lot of talks with. So I was kind of excited for that to happen."

Instead, Van Exel was traded by Denver to Dallas in a multi-player deal, and the Wolves swapped veteran center Dean Garrett and a second-round draft pick to Golden State for forward Marc Jackson.

What fell through in the Nuggets' negotiations?

"I think the biggest issue ? and this is my opinion, I don't know if it was true or not ? but I think Denver's biggest concern was Terrell Brandon, if he would ever play again (after knee surgery)," Van Exel said. "I think that was the biggest concern for Denver."

Not that it didn't work out well for Van Exel. He's averaging 9.9 points, 3.3 assists and 26.9 minutes with his new team, mostly as a reserve, and said he's happy to be with the Mavericks, who are contending for the Midwest Division title.

Of his trade from Denver to Dallas, Van Exel said: "It was a big surprise, because it was mentioned, but I never thought there was much to it because they were already winning, they already had a good team. Steve (Nash) is here, and Tim (Hardaway) was doing his thing. So it was never really big on my list.