Jazz Save About $9 Million by Trading Harpring, Maynor to Thunder

Filed under: Jazz, Thunder, NBA TransactionsWant a prime example of how important money is these days in the NBA? Utah on Tuesday parted with solid rookie point guard Eric Maynor and will save more than $9 million. Here's how it works after some additional money crunching was done by FanHouse. By sending injured Matt Harpring's $6.5 million contract to Oklahoma City along with Maynor, who makes $1.32 million, for the draft rights to Peter Fehse (who likely never will play in the NBA), the Jazz saved $7.82 million in luxury tax for the season. The Jazz already has paid Harpring and Maynor about a third of their seasonal salaries, so they save about $5 million in remaining salaries. But two other issues must be addressed, that Utah has just 12 players now on the roster and that insurance would have paid a portion of Harpring's salary because he is out for the season due to injury. The Jazz likely will sign a minimum-contract player to get the roster to 13. With that pla...