PHILADELPHIA -- Keith Van Horn was present when then-New Jersey Nets teammate Kerry Kittles joined Adria Daniels in marriage in early August in Manhattan. And once Van Horn returned from the wedding to his home in Salt Lake City, he learned he was about to start a new life of his own with the Philadelphia 76ers.

	Keith Van Horn Forward Philadelphia 76ers Profile
	2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT% 31 15.7 8.3 1.5 .467 .772

''I was actually coming home from Kerry Kittles' wedding in Manhattan,'' Van Horn said of learning Aug. 6 while riding a taxi from the airport that he and center Todd MacCulloch had been dealt from the Nets to the Sixers for center Dikembe Mutombo. ''My agent called me and told me. At first I was shocked. Any time you hear something like that, it's such a traumatic thing in your life. Especially when you have kids and a family.

''It's a great deal of work. It's kind of shocking at first. But I started getting excited about it as hours passed because I saw the opportunity we have here to be successful.''

While Van Horn's last moments with his Nets teammates was a wonderful experience at a wedding, his last moments in a Nets uniform in East Rutherford, N.J., were more like a funeral. After an All-America career at Utah, Van Horn was drafted by the Sixers with the second overall pick of the 1997 NBA draft. But before he was able to play in Philadelphia, he was traded with guard Lucious Harris and forward Don MacLean to New Jersey for the draft rights to forward Tim Thomas and guard Anthony Parker, guard Jim Jackson and center Eric Montross.

Van Horn originally flourished with the Nets, making the 1998 first-team all-rookie squad and averaging a career-high 21.8 points during his second season. He ended up averaging a respectable 18.2 points per game as a Net and is sixth on the franchise's all-time scoring list (5,700 points). But when the Nets made a run to the 2002 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, their infatuation with the 6-foot-10 sharp-shooter in the knee-high socks began to plummet.

After the Nets were swept in the Finals, forward Kenyon Martin and guard Jason Kidd pointed much of the blame toward an unnamed teammate. That player was viewed to be Van Horn, who was accused of playing heartless against the Lakers after averaging 10.5 points in Finals.

''Some guys don't have it in them,'' Martin said. ''That's the hardest thing to deal with. Some guys come to play every day. And some guys, you don't know when they are going to show up. I can deal with losing. I can deal with failure. But when guys don't bring it every day, that's something I can't deal with.''

Said Kidd: ''If you don't show any type of heart or emotion at this point, maybe you shouldn't be playing.''

Van Horn left feeling like a ''scapegoat'' and was disappointed that Nets coach Byron Scott and teammates expressed displeasure toward him to media instead of to his face. Rumors of Van Horn being dealt ran rampant even though his contract -- $12 million for 2002-2003 and $55 million over the final three years -- made him a tough commodity to move. His name came up in trade rumors in Utah and Minnesota. But surprisingly in early August, Van Horn was sent back to Philly. Van Horn sent ''thank you'' cards to many people in the Nets organization after the trade, but not to Scott.

When asked if the trade from New Jersey left a bitter taste, Van Horn said: ''I don't think it has a bitter taste. I don't know if it ever has had a bitter taste. I was excited about the opportunity to come to Philadelphia because we have a nice young team, an opportunity to win and do some good things here. I was excited about the opportunity once it all happened.''

It's one thing to play with an unselfish guard such as Kidd, who finds you open for jumpers and dunks. It's quite another to play with offensive-minded Sixers star Allen Iverson.

Thomas, Jerry Stackhouse, Larry Hughes, Tonic Kukoc and Matt Harpring all struggled to find success playing with Iverson. With that in mind, how was the supposedly soft Van Horn going to mesh with the tough and offensive-minded Iverson?

So far, so good.

Entering Saturday's game against the Dallas Mavericks, Van Horn is averaging 15.7 points on a career-best 46.7 percent shooting in 33.5 minutes. Iverson is still lighting up the scoring charts at 26.9 per game.

''My role coming in here is to be that solid second option for Allen,'' Van Horn said. ''For the most part this year, I've done a good job in that role. Allen is going to be one of the top two, three scorers in this league year in and year out. I came in here understanding my role and I've just got to come in and do that.''

While Van Horn has meshed smoothly with Iverson, he's still adjusting to demanding and defensive-minded coach Larry Brown.

While he can score with the best of them, Van Horn owns a reputation as a weak defender. Brown, however, has a great track record of motivating players, from Aaron McKie to Stanley Roberts to Rik Smits. So while Van Horn's defense still needs improvement, he is averaging a team-best 8.3 rebounds.

''He's been playing good,'' Brown said. ''I'm proud of the way he's played. I'm trying to figure out ways I can help him. He's kind of a work in progress.''

The consensus is the Sixers definitely got the best of the deal. Mutombo is out with a torn ligament in his right wrist until possibly March and still has to learn the Nets' offense. Van Horn is playing solidly while MacCulloch is an anchor in the lane for Philadelphia. The Nets, however, are still winning. Although the Nets and Sixers have played in the preseason, they don't meet for the first time for real until Jan. 15 in Philadelphia.

The true winner of this trade probably won't be known until the playoffs. But in actuality, both teams are winners for the simple fact that there is no way Van Horn could have returned to the swamp after all the Finals garbage. Imagine Van Horn trying to play for Scott and with Kidd and Martin now. Imagine Iverson without a complementary scorer. In this case, a change of scenery, even from a short distance, was best for everyone involved.

''You obviously have to have confidence in yourself to feel like you got the best of the deal,'' Van Horn said. ''But that is not really a concern of ours. We're trying to focus on the team we have and not what Dikembe is doing in New Jersey. We are trying to focus more on our success.''

And Van Horn seems much happier focusing on his new lease on life with the Sixers.

Marc J. Spears, who covers the Nuggets for the Denver Post, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.