Hoping against hope, Maynor wants to stay with Thunder

Eric Maynor is a quality backup point guard, a guy that coach Scott Brooks trusts in a way he trusts few others. Maynor played the entire fourth quarter of a playoff game (against Dallas) in 2011. He was injured for the 2012 playoff run, the Thunder filled in with Derek Fisher and they missed Maynor.

Maynor was drafted the same year as Serge Ibaka and James Harden and is eligible for an extension. One he is not going to get, he will be a restricted free agent next summer. It’s about the dollars and while Ibaka got his and Harden will get his (as did Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook). That may squeeze Maynor out of a spot if another team makes a healthy offer to him .

Over at Daily Thunder Royce Young has a fantastic look at the Maynor situation.

More than any other player though, Maynor made it clear during his exit interview that he’s willing to sacrifice to stay together.

“If we really want to continue, it feels like we got something special here,” he said. “I feel like if guys sacrifice to get something done then everybody will be here still….”

Seems pretty clear, no? Maynor wants to be in OKC. Really bad. The issue, again, is the numbers. If a big deal for Harden puts OKC in luxury tax hell, well, you can probably figure out what a new contract for Maynor does.

We don’t know how far OKC ownership is willing to go into the luxury tax, but it’s probably not that far. The Thunder drafted Reggie Jackson as a potential Maynor replacement, although he has not looked fully ready (we’ll see how he improves into his second season). So they have a quandry

One thing to look for is Maynor’s name in trade rumors around the deadline — the Thunder do not want to lose him for nothing, which could happen if he becomes a restricted free agent. But this could play out any number of ways.