Daily Thunder.com Reactions to the Eric Maynor trade

Eric Maynor has spent three seasons with the Thunder, taking part in the team’s rise from up-and-comers to legit contenders.

I’ll never forget his fourth quarter performance against the Mavericks in Game 2 of the 2011 Western Conference Finals where he played so well, Scott Brooks sat Russell Westbrook for basically the entire fourth quarter.

After tearing his ACL last season and failing to fully recover from it this season, Maynor lost his backup job to Reggie Jackson after 25 games and with him being a restricted free agent this summer, it was necessary to deal him, which OKC did to Portland. Kind of sad to see him go, but definitely the best for him and his career.

Here are some reactions around Twitter to Maynor’s departure:

I want to thank the Oklahoma City Thunder for everything the last 3 years……appreciate all the love n support from the fans as well……

— Eric Maynor (@EMaynor3) February 21, 2013

Got damn I hate seeing brothers leave the team! I wish @emaynor3 the best, I’m gonna miss him and his family!! — Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) February 21, 2013

Welcome @emaynor3 to Portland…. #RipCity — Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) February 21, 2013

I’m going to miss my Lil bro @emaynor3. It’s been a blessing on and off the court. #luvyoumyG

— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) February 21, 2013

@emaynor3 welcome to Portland #RipCity @jama1shu1er

— Nicolas Batum (@nicolas88batum) February 21, 2013

C-Wil

1 Like

It's a sad day for Thunder fans. We have come to the realization that we just don't have the money to get any better. I think it's safe to say we peaked last season with the Finals run and Harden still on the team. I know Presti has tried to the make the most out of a bad situation but today proved to me that we are indeed a small time organization.

I hope we can do more than Utah did in the 90's but it looks like to me once again big markets get all the best players and that where the championships go.

walle

1 Like

@C-Wil Bad situation? I respect your opinion, but Presti was given the green light to max out Harden (some reports say so). Its obvious Harden wanted to be the man and theres nothing wrong with that, I mean he turned down the offer because it was 1.5 mill short a year. His production is equal to Martin's right now. I hope you realize these guys are young and there is a lot of room for growth. My thought is that Brooks is what has held this team back. Poor rotations, terrible matchups, poor offensive coaching in crunch time and awful time management.

TaoMaas

@walle But this team isn't really being held back, is it? We've still got one of the best records in the league and are one of mostly 3 teams mentioned who can win it all. We may be the most recent team to lose a key component, but the "super-teams" in Miami and LA won't be far behind, I suspect. And when Miami loses Bosh or LA loses Howard, I seriously doubt they get a player in return who can come as close to matching those players' output as Kmart has come to Harden.

cainokc

@walle @C-Wil check the stats out we're scoring more this year without harden and winning more harden is only as good as his pick and roll blow that up and put some one in the paint and his game is average

tbird26p

@C-Wil It is hard to believe we peaked when our top three players are 24 and younger. Players will get better. You can never predict the future in the NBA.

Old Man Game

@C-Wil I wouldn't draw any conclusions from this. We're under a new paradigm with the super luxury tax that the league hasn't seen before. One of the stated goals in negotiating that by ownership was to bring more parity to the league and they may have done just that if it turns out that its difficult to impossible to keep talented cores together for more than a couple years.

f5alcon

@C-Wil we didn't save much money, we save a prorated maynor contract for a prorated brwer contract but paid the knicks cash, so it is close to a wash.

CLthunderfan

8 Like

@C-Wil Meltdown #2

C-Wil

@CLthunderfan Meltdown? Boy you are dramatic. All I'm saying is, the championship window doesn't stay open forever. When you're as close as the Thunder are, you go all in to win. But it's obvious the owners are too cheap to do that. We had a great thing last year, should have built off that. Hell if Harden even half way shows up in those game we might have changed the series but we'll never know now. We were supposed to be better this year, that is how the process works right? Get better every year? We're not, and it's showing right now with our recent struggles. Haven't won a game in close to two weeks.

TheresABabyFaceUnderMyBeard

@f5alcon @C-Wil The problem with that logic though is that there was no need to blow it up in order to go all in for a title. All that was needed to drastically improve chances of a title were relatively minor-moderate moves. In all honesty, the harden trade was, in essence, much more of blowing it up than any of the other options available

f5alcon

1 Like

@C-Wil They made it clear they want sustainable success not a one and lottery team. or 1st rd exits for a decade, they dont want to be the mavs. If you want a guaranteed title be a lakers fan, small market teams rarely win titles in the NBA, sustainability is the better model, making conference finals or finals for a decade is better.

Can you imagine the whining we would have on here if we were a bad team because we had to blow it up for cap reasons for one title.

OBoy

1 Like

@CLthunderfan @C-Wil my comment stood in the way of this glory.

261 comments

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KENTUCKYRAM

Great news for Maynor. More playing time and a chance to fill a need for Portland.

Speaking of diamonds in the rough that Presiti pulls off each year, lets take a look at the fools gold as well. Two first round picks for Cole Aldridge, $40,000,000 for Perk which left no money for Harden, and missing on Larry Sanders at pick #15 while going after Cole. Larry just happened to be Maynors team mate at VCU so he was not unknown. The Thunder could have had Sanders and Harden but instead have Perk, a new back up point guard, and one less first round pick.

Watching Nate Robinson with the Bulls last night...and doing pretty well...reminded me of when he was with the Thunder. Nate was a fan favorite, but there was never any serious discussion of him taking Maynor's spot on the team because it wasn't even a close contest. Maynor was simply the better player. I think some folks on this board have forgotten that.

http://dailythunder.com/2013/02/evaluating-the-thunders-deadline-moves/#respond

S4TISF4CTION

JR Smith ‏@TheRealJRSmith

#YouTryinToGetThePipe? http://instagr.am/p/WAxFHatfLy/

Wow, he loves this.

Wilbon's a moron. "Harden looks at you and says I know exactly what you can and can't do because I used to beat you in practice."

Oh really, where was that the first 2 games against the Thunder genius. Harden had a great game last night and is a great player but don't give me that line of b.s.

@Old Man Game Yeah, that was pissin' me off, too. The Knicks get blown out by 30 by the Pacers and it's "nothing", but James Harden scores 46, still almost loses the game, and it's "something". East Coast bias, anyone?

rednuht

@Old Man Game Wilbon is right, but so are you.

Let's sign Smush Parker!

@S4TISF4CTION he literally couldn't sit at Kobe's table.

OkcBaby

Course Strength of schedule will be better after the fact for Dt;ers even though the opponents W-L record isnt. LOL

@OkcBaby as long as we stay in the 2 seed I dont care about record

I ll have to retire the 18-11 record for post trade edition.

@OkcBaby Dont let the door hit ya on the way out!

JustPlainNASTY

Marc Stein ‏@ESPNSteinLine

Jermaine O'Neal tells ESPN that he is staying with Suns and NOT seeking contract buyout. More to come shortly

@JustPlainNASTY @ESPNSteinLine boooooooo

@OBoy @JustPlainNASTY at least he isn't going to the heat

@OBoy @JustPlainNASTY dang you beat me

[censored]

Ronnie Brewer's first few years in Utah he was prolific and proficient at finishing at the rim, and even shot alright from mid-range spotting up. Jerry Sloan's system has a way of making some players look better than they are offensively, though. Kinda weird how much he fell off after that on offense.

@[censored] and his defense was amazing under the bulls. still decent on the knicks and utah but is a system player, so could be interesting here

@[censored] The Knicks fans bitched constantly about his poor shooting this year. I haven't looked. How was he doing?

@Old Man Game @[censored] 36% from the floor 31% 3 41% FT

@Old Man Game Bad. He's not a good shooter.

@[censored] OUch, just looked 42.9% eFG%.

Bryson

I can see Maynor coming back in FA for a small contract. The organization and players love him, and I'm not sure many other teams would want him.

@Bryson That's not going to happen. This is why Presti traded him, to give Maynor an opportunity he wasn't going to get here.

@Bryson Yea thats why Blazers got him because they didnt want him LMAO

@OkcBaby They obviously didn't want him too much, otherwise they would have offered something besides a trade exception.

@Bryson hahaha Blazers have been interested in Maynor for some time now. lol

@Bryson Depends a lot on how he plays in Portland but otherwise I could see it.

Cold-Blooded

Did anyone on here get a chance to buy KD's old home? If not, then hurry http://www.seattlepi.com/realestate/article/Kevin-Durant-sells-Mercer-Island-home-4297516.php

That is a beautiful house

What's going to be most interesting to me in the coming weeks is to watch how, IF at all, this impacts Jackson's play. Seems plausible that he might have been looking over his shoulder a little bit at the guy on the bench who used to have his job. Now he can have confidence that the job is fully his.

@Old Man Game When Brewer was coming out of Arkansas he was thought of as a combo guard because he was the primary ball handler and distributor. His role has changed in the NBA, but if you're Brooks and Presti just gave you a veteran player, you probably play him more minutes than you should.

@rednuht @Old Man Game but the big question will be who will he be taking minutes from?

@CLthunderfan I really think this sets the stage for a more defense oriented small ball lineup of Russ/Thabo/Brewer/KD & Serge or Nick or Perk.

@Old Man Game @rednuht true but hopefully this will give KD a little bit more rest.

@CLthunderfan @rednuht Deandre for sure who probably won't play again outside blowouts and possibly Martin or Thabo depending on the situation.

Presti is overrated unless he makes a miracle trade. We are worse. Sorry :( Young Grasshoppers

@OkcBaby Would making a trade after the trade deadline count as a miracle?

@OkcBaby You aren't going to leave are you? You'll just show up after every loss and mention Maynor won't you?

@Old Man Game @OkcBaby and put down our opponent after wins.

Trackbacks

30 in 30: OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER | Armchair 3-Ball says:

February 23, 2013 at 12:35 am

[...] No. 2 overall pick and nice 7’3″ filler, and Reggie Jackson, who’s replaced the recently traded Eric Maynor as Westbrook’s backup. (Unfortunately, Sefolosha, 12.7; Perkins, 9.5; Collison, 14.1; [...]

Reactions to the Eric Maynor trade

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