He was supposed to be bad news personified ? a contract that went on forever coupled with bad shot selection and a worse attitude.

When he came from Denver in February 2002, Nick Van Exel took second billing in the trade to Raef LaFrentz. All Van Exel did in 100 regular-season games with the Mavericks and 28 more in the postseason was prove skeptics wrong.

So when Van Exel got the news late Friday that he was part of a pending eight-player deal with the Golden State Warriors, his reaction mirrored his brief Mavericks career.

"He was disappointed, but he took it like a pro," his agent, Tony Dutt, said Saturday. "I was probably more depressed about it than Nick was. I just thought Nick had developed a nice rapport with the fans and with that team. For as short a time as it was, he sure fell in love with that team and the city."

The Mavericks agreed Friday to ship Van Exel, Avery Johnson, Evan Eschmeyer and Popeye Jones to Golden State for high-scoring Antawn Jamison, along with Danny Fortson, Jiri Welsch and Chris Mills.

The NBA cannot approve the deal until Monday. Until then, either team could back out.

Dutt wondered if the Bay area was the best destination for Van Exel and the best move the Mavericks could have made.