Nov 2, 2012; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Eric Maynor and Thunder head coach Scott Brooks talk during the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

With the trade dedline coming up Thursday at 3 PM EST, NBA fans have been on the ESPN trade machine all day trying to figure out ways to make their favorite team better and GM’s have been on the phone all day. For the Oklahoma City Thunder, there hasn’t been too much buzz, but we all know Sam Presti has something under his sleeve.

Here are some possible deals the Thunder could make before Thursday’s deadline:

According to Chris Broussard, ESPN.com, OKC is “aggressively” shopping PG Eric Maynor.

Well, its amazing how times change. Two years ago, we were sitting here talking about how Maynor is the best backup point guard in the league. Then, he goes down early last year with an ACL injury. After healing, comes back this year and disappoints and gets his spot taken by Reggie Jackson. And now, the Thunder are shopping him. Time to look at some possible ideas:

Maynor, Perkins, 1st round pick from OKC and 2nd round pick from Charlotte for Demare Carroll and Al Jefferson: Jefferson would give the Thunder more scoring and more quickness. However, losing Perkins would get rid of championship experience.

Maynor, Perry Jones III, and Daniel Orton to Utah for Derrick Favors and Kevin Murphy: With the Jazz needing a backup point guard and Maynor being in Utah before, this trade works. This would be a decent deal for Oklahoma City as the Thunder have been looking for an inside scoring presence for a while.

Rodger Sherman of SB Nation: “So who will move for Maynor? Berger mentioned the other team he’s played for in his NBA career, the Jazz, who are on the lookout for a backup point guard with Mo Williams still hurt and Jamaal Tinsley’s primary backup Earl Watson. Maynor would certainly be an improvement over Watson – and perhaps even Tinsley – but the Jazz might not have the pieces to land Maynor, for whom Broussard reports the asking price is high. Besides, Berger reports the Jazz’ front office is still torn up about whether to deal either Al Jefferson or Paul Millsap.”

So, send over the trade ideas. I do think the Thunder will deal Maynor before Thursday’s deadline because to be honest, as of now, he is no help to this team. Sititng on the bench supporting his team is great but doesn’t necessarily help the Thunder win a ring.

Feb 6, 2013; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center Al Jefferson (25) controls the ball while defended by Milwaukee Bucks center Samuel Dalembert (21) during the second half at EnergySolutions Arena. The Jazz won 100-86. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

The Utah Jazz have a lot of big men on their roster and rumors about them trading one of them have been going on for awhile.

The San Antonio Spurs have emerged as the frontrunner to land Jazz center Al Jefferson, according to Sheridan Hoops.

The San Antonio Spurs are the front-runners to land Al Jefferson in a trade with the Utah Jazz – and they are frontrunners like Secretariat was in the 1973 Belmont Stakes.

Here’s why, followed by a how.

“Those teams are practically incestuous, they are on such good terms internally,” one NBA source told me Wednesday.

Indeed, Spurs assistant general manager Scott Layden left Utah prior to this season after spending several seasons as an assistant coach for the Jazz and joined R.C. Buford’s staff in San Antonio’s secrecy vault front office. Also, former Spurs assistant GM Dennis Lindsey is now doing the legwork for Utah’s grand pooh-bah, Kevin O’Connor.

The Jazz currently have Jefferson, Paul Millsap, Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter on their roster. Jefferson is in the last year of his contract and will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. The Jazz don’t want to see him walk without getting anything in return.

The Spurs can make this work because they have a few things Utah needs. The Jazz need a point guard and the Spurs have both Patty Mills and Nando De Colo to include in a deal. The Spurs can also include Tiago Splitter and Stephen Jackson to match up the salaries.

The Spurs currently have the best record in the NBA and have essentially the same exact roster as a season ago. They made less moves this offseason than any team in the NBA.

Acquiring Jefferson would be huge for the Spurs. Jefferson is one of the few players in the league that demands a double-team from the post. With Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili getting up there in years, Jefferson could take a little pressure off them as another scoring option.

Jefferson is averaging 17.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game this season while shooting a career-low 47.8 percent from the field.

Size is also one of the few weaknesses of the Spurs. They make up for it in other ways like great ball movement and perimeter shooting which is why they still have the best record in the NBA. When it comes playoff time, San Antonio may be overmatched on the interior with their current roster.

Some of the other top teams in the Western Conference clearly have more size than the Spurs like the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers. Jefferson would immediately change that.

The Spurs would likely be straying away somewhat from the kind of basketball that has made them so successful over the past few seasons. Jefferson is going to isolate a lot and hold the ball longer when the Spurs are used to quick, crisp ball movement. But if there’s one team and organization that can make this work and figure it out, it’s San Antonio.

We know that the Jazz are going to move one of their bigs. Do they really want to send their best one to the best team in the league? Maybe not but it will likely yield them the greatest return.

The trade deadline is right around the corner now Feb. 21 which is right after the All-Star break. Expect any big moves like this one to happen right at the deadline.

Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

Playing in Utah on little rest isn’t an easy thing to do but the Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t help themselves tonight as they lost 97-90 to the Jazz.

The Thunder did not have the intensity tonight and started to fall behind after coasting off some hot shooting in the first quarter.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 23 of the Thunder’s 25 points in the first quarter and then didn’t score a single point in the second quarter. Utah led 52-44 at the half.

The Jazz held Kobe Bryant to 3-of-20 shooting two nights ago and would hold Durant to 6-for-22 shooting on this night.

The Thunder were within a point with 2:56 left in the game. Their late-game offense was nothing to be proud of on this night as Utah’s defense was too tough for the Thunder to live off of their isolation prowess.

If not for two desperation three-pointers at the end of the shot clock by the Thunder then this game wouldn’t have been as close at the end. The Thunder turned the ball over 20 times in the game and gave up 12 offensive rebounds to the Jazz.

Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson proved to be effective big man closers in the final minutes while the Jazz bigs off the bench did their job and then some earlier in the fourth.

Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

Credit the Jazz defense for winning this one for the home team. Westbrook was the only Thunder player who was making his shot but was held to just 11 field goal attempts and four free throw attempts.

Utah is a sneaky good team in this conference and especially right now winning their fourth straight tonight. The Thunder continue to be inconsistent during this recent stretch of games and will need to get their act together come playoff time.

Discipline may arrive in the form of Derek Fisher tomorrow when he clears waivers at 6 p.m. EST. Fisher is rumored to have Oklahoma City at the top of his list of teams to sign with tomorrow and would bring the Thunder some needed veteran leadership.

Oklahoma City will be back at it again tomorrow night when they face the Clippers (26-19) at home. Both teams will be on back-to-backs.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game winning streak)
106.9 Offensive Efficiency (1st)
99.9 Defensive Efficiency (12th)
96.0 Pace (4th)
57.0 True Shooting % (1st)
51.2 Rebound Rate (6th)

Jazz (3-game winning streak)
102.5 Offensive Efficiency (9th)
103.6 Defensive Efficiency (23rd)
94.0 Pace (16th)
51.9 True Shooting % (19th)
51.5 Rebound Rate (4th)

The Thunder and Jazz have met twice already this season with Oklahoma City winning both times and pretty easily too.

In Utah is never easy for a team and the Thunder have been inconsistent at late so this one shouldn’t not be a cake walk. The Jazz have also been hot of late winning their last three games.

Al Jefferson has missed the last few games for the Jazz and is expected to return tonight. Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter have done the job in his absence however putting up similar numbers to Jefferson’s.

The Jazz have size and can do some damage on the offensive glass, something that has been an Achilles heel for the Thunder at times this season. The last time these teams played Oklahoma City set the tone early on inside and they will need to do the same again tonight.

Kevin Durant is matched up with Gordon Hayward who has done a surprisingly good job on him this season. Durant also is forced to account for Hayward on the other end who runs the floor as well as any player in the NBA.

With the return of Jefferson and strong play from Favors and Kanter of late, the Jazz bench may pose a solid threat against the James Harden-led second unit of Oklahoma City. Harden led all scorers the last time these teams played with 22 points.

This may be the last game the Thunder play before signing veteran point guard Derek Fisher who is expected to sign with the team tomorrow.

Up ahead for the Thunder this week is an attractive three games against the Clippers, Timberwolves then Heat.

Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game losing streak)
105.4 Offensive Efficiency (3rd)
99.9 Defensive Efficiency (15th)
96.1 Pace (2nd)

Jazz (2-game losing streak)
102.1 Offensive Efficiency (11th)
102.4 Defensive Efficiency (21st)
93.7 Pace (17th)

Last night was a tough loss for the Thunder. They had plenty of chances to close the deal on Sacramento but just didn’t make plays while the Kings did. Now the Thunder will have to deal with playing in Utah on a back-to-back, not an easy task. This is also the fifth straight road game for the Thunder as they will finally round out their road trip tonight and have the next three nights off before playing Utah again with their next game in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoman reported that Thabo Sefolosha could return for this game which means he will most likely at least be back for the next Thunder game. The Thunder have definitely missed Thabo and it will feel great to have him back. For now, the Thunder need to focus on tonight and finish out this road trip strong with a solid win over an inconsistent Utah team.
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