Utah Jazz notebook: Eric Maynor adjusting to Oklahoma home

OKLAHOMA CITY — He was welcomed to Oklahoma City with open arms, and so many more amenities than are offered in Utah that rookie point guard Eric Maynor couldn't help but fill in old teammates on his new digs.

"I told all of them, 'Y'all should see the locker room, y'all should see everything,' " Maynor said. "They have a chef every morning at practice, and stuff like that."

Maynor was traded by Utah to the Thunder — whose Ford Center locker room is palatial compared to that of the Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena — 10 days ago, as a part of a cost-cutting deal.

He faced his former team for the first time Thursday, scoring four points on 2-for-5 shooting — including a fastbreak layup sparked by a strip of center Mehmet Okur — and dishing six assists while logging 15 minutes in Oklahoma City's 87-86 win over the Jazz.

The initial surprise of being dealt less than two months into his first NBA season, Maynor said, wore off "the next day ... (when) I had to play in Phoenix, with a new jersey on."

That would be Dec. 23, when Maynor took a 6 a.m. commercial flight from Miami, where the Jazz were when the trade was made, to Oklahoma City, where he underwent a quick physical, then hopped on a private plane headed for Phoenix in time to join the Thunder for that night's game against the Suns.

"Of course (being traded) was gonna be a shock," said Maynor, the Jazz 's first-round selection in last June's NBA Draft and their backup at the point before he was relocated. "I thought I was gonna be in Utah. You know, I was settled in Utah.

"When I got the news, and it hit me, it upset me a little bit. But (Jazz) coach (Jerry) Sloan came and talked to me, and we both had an understanding of why it happened, and I felt better about the situation."

The deal — which saves the Jazz more than $10 million — also involved injured forward Matt Harpring's expiring contract going to Oklahoma City for rights to a German player Utah has no intention of signing.

Harpring didn't have to report to the Thunder, and the only sign of his presence here (Oklahoma City won't waive him so insurance pays a significant portion of his $6.5 million salary) is the listing of his name and usual No. 15 on the team's official roster.

But Maynor?

He's been made to feel at home in Oklahoma City, where — soon to be joined by his mother, who previously planned to move to Salt Lake City — he intends to have a house of his own.