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.
New teammate D.J. White kidded Thursday about owning the old No. 3 of Maynor, who now wears No. 6. "There might be a price on it," White joked.
And Thunder star Kevin Durant made it known he's happy to have the 22-year-old Virginia Commonwealth product on board with one of the NBA's youngest clubs.
"He's a guy that's gonna step right in and help us," Durant said of Maynor, who is backing up Thunder starting point Russell Westbrook and averaging about as many minutes — 13 — as he was playing behind Deron Williams in Utah. "Very poised, and plays like a veteran. So, he's a good addition ... a guy that's gonna come in and bond with the guys off the floor first, and that always helps on the floor.
"He's gonna be a guy that's gonna help us grow throughout the years, and we're excited to have him," Durant added. "We got the good end of the deal."
Maynor thinks so, too.
"Sometimes you have to say, 'Why me?' " he said. "But, you know, the choice (the Jazz) made, I have to live with that."
Finding out he was headed to the Thunder — which evidently shares some things with the Jazz, even if a team chef is not among them — made the move much more palatable.
"I said, 'Cool with me,' " Maynor said, "because I'm leaving an organization I learned a lot from — from Coach Sloan, the coaching staff, some of the players on the team — but then you come to something like this, with a bunch of young guys, great coaches, guys that work every day, and they're up-and-coming.
"I didn't really know too many offensive sets, too many defensive schemes, but (Thunder) coach (Scott) Brooks told me, 'Just go out here and play hard; it will be all right,' " Maynor added with reference to his quick integration into Oklahoma City's lineup. "Both coaches really just want you to play hard, play together."
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