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INDIANAPOLIS -- Stephen Jackson had wanted to play for the Indiana Pacers for two years. On Thursday, he finally got his wish.

The Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers completed a sign-and-trade deal that sent Jackson to the Pacers for forward Al Harrington.

"This is definitely the place where I wanted to be," Jackson said. "Just finally being able to be a part of it, being secure, being able to take care of my family and that I have another chance to get a championship, it's an ideal situation here. This is the perfect opportunity for me and I'm in the best position I could be."

Jackson first talked with the Pacers before the 2003-04 season. They couldn't work out a deal, and Jackson had to settle for a one-year $1.1 million offer from Atlanta.

Jackson's paychecks will be much larger after he signed a six-year contract worth an estimated $38-44 million, depending on incentives, and was sent to Indiana for Harrington.

On the surface, the deal appears to help both teams. Harrington was tired of coming off the bench in Indiana, while Jackson wanted to play for a winner.

The Pacers sorely needed outside shooting while the Hawks need just about everything.

The deal had been in the works for several days, but could not be completed until a moratorium on trades and free agent signings expired Wednesday.

"It's a deal we thought would have long-term implications for us," said Hawks general manager Billy Knight, who helped draft Harrington while he was with the Pacers in 1998.

Jackson averaged a team-leading 18.1 points for the Hawks last season and provides the consistent perimeter shooting the Pacers lacked last season.

He leaves one of the NBA's worst franchises for one of its best. The Hawks were just 28-54 last season and missed the playoffs for the fifth straight year.

The Pacers won an NBA-best 61 games during the regular season and were eliminated by eventual champion Detroit in the Eastern Conference finals.

"He went through a tough situation in Atlanta last year, going from a championship team to a team that won (28) games," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "You can tell this guy's hungry to get back to the business of winning."

It's a long way from where Jackson started. After failing to qualify academically for the University of Arizona, Jackson was selected by Phoenix in the second round of the 1997 NBA draft, but was released in training camp.

He also spent time in the CBA, overseas and a season in New Jersey before becoming an integral part of San Antonio's championship team in 2002-03.

"If you don't go through things, then you don't appreciate it when you get to the good parts, like (championship) rings and stuff," Jackson said. "Going through everything I went through, it's the best of me, I wouldn't change anything."

Despite Indiana's considerable success, Harrington was looking for a bigger role. The 24-year-old averaged a career-best 13.3 points and almost 31 minutes a game last season, but finishing second in the voting for sixth man of the year provided no consolation.

Harrington told Pacers president Larry Bird in a season-ending meeting that he would rather be traded than come off the bench again.

Bird said he was sorry to deal Harrington, one of the team's most popular and hardest working players, but it was a move he felt he needed to make.

"Al made it very clear that he wanted to start," Bird said. "We had an opportunity to pick up a young man who fills a need on our team and we feel very honored. If you're going to get rid of somebody good, you better get somebody good in return and we did that."

Harrington said he looked forward to playing a big role in turning things around for the Hawks.

"A lot of guys that wouldn't be as excited as I am to be in Atlanta, but I feel like this is a great situation for me, for this city, for this organization, and that we're going to turn it around quickly," he said. "They have all the right things in place."

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press

This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index