When Anderson Varejao was traded to make way for Channing Frye, a lot of eyebrows were raised. But Cavs GM David Griffin was adamant on the value of the sweet-shooting big man. He was also quick to emphasize that Frye’s true worth will be featured in the playoffs.
Griffin’s preaching proved to be true, and he could not have had a smile bigger than what he had in Game 3 of the series against Atlanta. Channing Frye scored a career-high 27 points, helping the Cavs essentially book their ticket to the next round. Ice water ran through his veins that time and it did not matter what the situation was – when he had a shot, he took it, and made it.
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Frye plays a very important role for Cleveland and it goes beyond numbers. Before he joined the team, Kevin Love was the lone stretch big man, so having him come off the bench and help provide spacing for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in extended time is extremely valuable.
Which makes it not much of a surprise when learning of the Cavaliers’ desire to tap his services dating back to the homecoming summer of 2014. David Griffin came close to signing Frye during that time, but Orlando’s big offer and the uncertainty of LeBron James’ status during that time played major roles, per Cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto.
He talked a lot to Frye about coming to the Cavs. Griffin also was looking at other players such as Chandler Parsons and Gordon Hayward.
But they had to wait on James. What James decided would determine what happened with the franchises in Cleveland and Miami.
By July 7, Frye had a firm four-year, $32 million offer from Orlando. He was very interested in Cleveland and playing for Griffin, who no longer carried the “interim” tag to his job title. But he couldn’t wait much longer and eventually went to Orlando.
On July 11, James announced his return to the Cavs.
Griffin already knew about Frye’s capability way back as the two were together in Phoenix when the former had a front office role.
It’s hard to blame Channing Frye for not waiting because the Magic’s offer was already considered by some to be relatively huge for his caliber, and who knows how patient Orlando was back then.
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A lot of factors also come into play if Frye had signed with Cleveland instead of packing his bags for Florida. Who knows if the need to grab Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith, and Iman Shumpert, all significant playoff contributors last year, would have still be given priority.
But all that are insignificant right now. The Cavs are rolling over the postseason opposition so far, and Channing Frye is contributing to the cause.