It looks like rookie guard Eric Maynor won’t be the back-up point guard of Deron Williams’ dreams after all. The Utah Jazz traded Maynor to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for the rights to 2002 second-rounder Peter Fehse, who is currently playing in the German League and never played a minute in an NBA game.
The piece that makes this trade work is that the Thunder agreed to take on the $6.5 million contract of injured veteran Matt Harpring (who won’t actually join the Thunder). For Utah, they are able to significantly reduce their luxury tax for this season. Breaking down the numbers, this trade reduced Utah’s luxury tax to $4.8 million – down from $12.6 million. The Jazz’s luxury tax been inflated after the they had to match Portland’s “toxic” $32 million off-season offer sheet for then-restricted-free agent Paul Millsap. From the business end of things, this trade “makes sense” for the Jazz, but it sure as hell isn’t sexy.
Oklahoma City, however, should be ecstatic about landing a player of Maynor’s caliber. He is a heady, quick player that adds another dynamic piece to the burgeoning Thunder. Maynor will immediately be slated into their back-up point guard slot behind Russell Westbrook. Maynor is a much more pure point guard than that of Westbrook, and I could even see Maynor cutting into Westbrook’s time on the floor in certain situations. Regardless of their rotation, Maynor provides the Thunder with another exciting young talent that should make Oklahoma City that much scarier in the years to come.
On his Twitter page, Maynor said:
just got traded to Oklahoma city………………..i wus always told everything happens for a reason………
Sounds like he isn’t as sure this is going to be a great thing for him as I am. That being said, he’s already updated his Twitter background to the Thunder’s logo, so there must be some excitement there. How couldn’t he be excited about playing alongside Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, James Harden and Westbrook and having the opportunity to build a bottom feeder up to relevancy? Once the Thunder add a serious low-post threat, they will be making some serious noise in the West.
Do you think Maynor will be a better fit in Oklahoma City than he was in Utah?
