The team that won the Michael Finley Sweepstakes is the same team that just won an NBA championship.

Finley told ESPN.com on Wednesday that he has chosen to sign with the San Antonio Spurs, spurning a richer offer from the Miami Heat and the lure of an emotional return to the Phoenix Suns to reunite with close friend Steve Nash.

The Dallas Mavericks tried for weeks to move Finley to an Eastern Conference team to prevent him from joining the Spurs or the Suns. When it couldn't swing a trade before the Aug. 15 deadline to exercise the NBA's new amnesty clause, Dallas reluctantly waived the two-time All-Star, making Finley an unrestricted free agent and the target of an intense two-week courtship that also involved the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Miami's Pat Riley, Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire and Minnesota's Kevin Garnett were among the big names to fly to Chicago last week to make face-to-face pitches to Finley. In the end, he went with the team that sent a one-man delegation -- Spurs coach Gregg Popovich -- to Finley's hometown.

The complete structure of the deal with San Antonio hasn't been finalized, including the length of the contract, but Finley will receive a starting salary of roughly $2.5 million this season.

"To be a part of a championship team, I'm excited," Finley said. "This is the closest I've ever been to a championship. I'm looking forward to the challenge of helping this team repeat."

Asked why he picked the Spurs, Finley said: "In a nutshell, they're already a championship team but they have room for improvement. And I feel my game can help them in the areas where they need improvement."

For every Suns fan pining for a morsel of hope that Michael Finley would have announced a return to Phoenix by now, here is a long-distance dedication from San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.

"I'd be surprised if Phoenix wasn't his choice," Popovich told the San Antonio Express-News at a Spurs news conference welcoming ex-Finley teammate Nick Van Exel on Tuesday. "I think he's got a great opportunity to start there and play a lot of minutes. He's got great relationships with a couple of their players, Steve (Nash) and Raja (Bell, both ex-Dallas teammates). I think he'd be really comfortable there."

Alas, it means nothing until it comes out of the mouth of Finley or his agent, Henry Thomas. A Thomas assistant said Tuesday that Finley had not made a choice. A decision was expected early this week after Finley used the weekend to mull over in-person presentations from Miami, Phoenix, San Antonio and Minnesota.

Finley is either truly torn or still negotiating, creating more limbo for a Suns franchise that just went through the Joe Johnson ordeal. Phoenix is more than happy to wait out this one if it means landing Finley, waived by Dallas on Aug. 15 for luxury tax savings, for a $1.1 million salary this season.

The Suns have not been given any new timetable. Finley has no deadline, but given his private nature, he likely does not relish the spotlight of his most-wanted status.

Nick Van Exel, the veteran guard who signed a one-year contract with the Spurs on Monday, said Tuesday morning he has contacted former teammate Michael Finley and urged him to come to San Antonio.

Finley, the most prized free agent in the NBA, is expected to choose among the Spurs, Heat, Suns and Timberwolves as soon as today.

"I did my recruiting," said Van Exel, who played with Finley in Dallas. "But (Finley) didn't give me any hints. I think he wants to keep it a big secret."

If the Spurs don't land Finley, they will turn their attention toward re-signing restricted free agent Devin Brown, coach Gregg Popovich said this morning. Either Finley or Brown would fill the team's need for an extra wing player and give the Spurs 12 players under contract.

The San Antonio Spurs have signed veteran guard Nick Van Exel.

Van Exel was a key member of the Mavericks 2003 team that played the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.

He went on to play for the Warriors in 2003-2004 and then the Blazers in 2004-2005.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed but it is believed that the Spurs are still in the running for Michael Finley, despite the addition of Van Exel.

Michael Finley was shocked when he was traded from the Suns at age 23. He said he thought they liked him. Nearly nine years later, he knows they do.

The Suns have extolled to Finley how much they love the idea of him playing for them again. Phoenix will hear if the feeling is mutual today or Tuesday, when the swingman, 32, is expected to announce his next career stop. Since being waived by Dallas for luxury tax savings two weeks ago, Finley has become as sought after as a parking spot in the shade.

He narrowed his options to Phoenix, Miami, San Antonio and Minnesota, all of which sent recruiting contingents to see him in Chicago last week.

With Finley aboard, the Suns plunk the sweet shooter into the starting backcourt with good friend Steve Nash and start talking title.

Without him, the expectations do not change much for a Phoenix franchise that can't replace Joe Johnson but has made moves to counter how it lost six of eight games to San Antonio last season.

The Suns' plate is full of wings. Phoenix's Shawn Marion, Jim Jackson, Raja Bell, James Jones, Leandro Barbosa, Boris Diaw and rookie Dijon Thompson all can man one of the wing positions.

The San Antonio Spurs will be training island-style before defending their NBA title.

The Spurs said Thursday that they will hold their training camp at the University of the Virgin Islands' beach-side campus on St. Thomas. The nine-day camp begins Oct. 4.

San Antonio star forward Tim Duncan grew up in the U.S. Virgin Islands, though on the island of St. Croix.

"We've always thought about holding training camp in the Virgin Islands," R.C. Buford, Spurs general manager, said in a written statement. "It certainly is something that is very important to Tim Duncan, but we really think it'll be a great experience for the entire team."

The team will leave St. Thomas on Oct. 13 and travel directly to Charleston, S.C., for a preseason game against Philadelphia on Oct. 14.

"This is a very exciting event for everyone in the Virgin Islands," Peter Sauer, the university's athletic director, said in a statement issued by the Spurs. "We are thrilled that an NBA team is coming to our community. The fact that it is the San Antonio Spurs makes it even sweeter."

After consecutive embarrassing losses by NBA players in international competition, the United States likely will rely on the leadership of a college coach to re-establish its supremacy in the basketball world.

Although a final decision will not be made until later this year, people close to Jerry Colangelo, who will make the final choice, say Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will be head coach of the 2008 Olympic men's basketball team.

"It's going to be Coach K," said someone close to the committee. "And it's going to be very interesting because it's not going to go down well with NBA coaches because they will be passed over by a college coach. And will NBA players play for him?"

Colangelo, the managing director of the men's senior national team, does not deny that Krzyzewski is a finalist for the job but says he has not yet made a decision.

"Mike Krzyzewski brings a wealth of experience, and he was an assistant on the original Dream Team," Colangelo said. "So he has the qualifications for the job. But that's all I'm going to say."

Others close to the process, however, say Krzyzewski has the inside track over San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, who was an assistant on the 2004 team that lost in Athens. That loss is not considered a negative against Popovich.

"What Gregg Popovich has accomplished and because of his understanding of international basketball, he certainly would be one of the strongest candidates at the position," Colangelo said.

Prepared to come home empty-handed but willing to at least make the most of an invitation from the NBA's most prized free agent, the Spurs will meet Michael Finley in Chicago today, long on credentials but short on visual aids.

Miami and Phoenix already have made their in-person overtures to Finley this week, with both teams going the multimedia route to illustrate their interest.

The Heat produced digitally enhanced photos of Finley wearing a Miami uniform. Suns owner Robert Sarver ? who Spurs fans last saw hanging with The Famous Chicken ? stopped short of lugging any fuzzy mascots to Chicago, but did bring stacks of fan e-mail to his meeting with Finley on Tuesday.

As for what zany presentations the Spurs might have in store for Finley today?

"We'll let people draw their own conclusions on that," general manager R.C. Buford said.

Translation: the Spurs' sales pitch ? which will be delivered by coach Gregg Popovich ? figures to be low on frills and heavy on talk of championships, a low-key locker room, and the chance to play with Tim Duncan.

Sources close to the process have told ESPN.com that Michael Finley and agent Henry Thomas have invited the leading suitors to Chicago for sitdowns in Finley's hometown as opposed to launching into a series of recruiting trips.

The Miami Heat's Pat Riley and Stan Van Gundy were the first to visit Finley on Monday, with delegations from the Phoenix Suns (Tuesday), San Antonio Spurs (Thursday) and Detroit Pistons (TBD) also scheduled for visits this week.

There is likewise a chance that the Minnesota Timberwolves will be the fifth team to get an up-close chance to woo Finley, with the most prominent casualty of the NBA's new amnesty clause apparently intent on a deliberate evaluation of his options. The 10-year veteran was waived by the Dallas Mavericks late last Monday and became an unrestricted free agent after clearing waivers Thursday.

Riley, Minnesota star Kevin Garnett, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and ex-Dallas teammate Steve Nash are among the luminaries who have personally reached out to Finley by phone since he was released.

Reports coming out of Seattle indicate that Brent Barry has been placed on the trading block by the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs have interest in a few of the available free agent swingmen on the market and would like to get more athletic at that position.