December 22, 2009

FORMER RAM, MAYNOR, TRADED TO OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
Maynor's NBA Profile Page

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – It looks like all of Eric Maynor’s Christmas gifts will need a forwarding address as the former Virginia Commonwealth University men’s basketball standout was traded, along with Utah Jazz teammate Matt Harpring, to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

Maynor, who was selected 20th overall by the Jazz in last June’s NBA Draft, had seen playing time in 26 of the team’s 28 games, averaging 5.2 points, 3.1 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 14 minutes per game.

His playing time was limited behind All-Star point guard Deron Williams, but when he did get his time he made it count. The Raeford, N.C. native tallied over 20 minutes in six games, scoring double-digits on all six occasions. He averaged 13.8 points and 6.0 assists in those six contests, including a career-high 24 points in a 107-103 loss at Cleveland on Nov. 14th.

Along with Maynor, the Thunder agreed to take on the $6.5 million contract of injured veteran Harpring who won’t actually join the Thunder. Harpring, an 11-year veteran, hasn’t played this season while recovering from an infection that developed after he had surgery on his ankle in the summer of 2008.

The Jazz will get the rights to 2002 second-round draft pick Peter Fehse, who has never played in the NBA and is currently playing in the German League.

“Trading Eric was a difficult decision,” Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor said in a statement. “But, along with Matt’s contract, it greatly helps reduce our luxury tax responsibility. Fortunately, with Deron (Williams) and a proven backup in Ronnie Price we feel that we have depth at that position.”

Maynor is VCU’s all-time leading scorer (1, 953 points) and assists man (674). His jersey was retired at his final home game at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center last February.

He will make his Thunder debut tomorrow evening when they travel to Phoenix to take on the Suns in a 9 p.m. EST showdown.

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