Channing Frye, Channing Frye, and Channing Frye; an Update on the Cavaliers' Summer

Channing Frye, Channing Frye, and Channing Frye; an Update on the Cavaliers' Summer

It has been a quiet summer for acquisitions for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but one name - Channing Frye - has made waves. It's not necessarily because Channing Frye turns the Cavaliers back into a title contender, but the fan favorite is being welcomed with open arms and warm hearts.

It has been a quiet summer for acquisitions for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but one name - Channing Frye - has made waves. It's not necessarily because Channing Frye turns the Cavaliers back into a title contender, but the fan favorite is being welcomed with open arms and warm hearts.

Quick: Who are the two most beloved members of the Cleveland Cavaliers from the past three years? LeBron James and Kyrie Irving? Wrong. Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson? Wrong again. Mo Williams and Edy Tavares? You're getting warmer, but still wrong.

The correct answer, of course, is Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye. The "Road Trippin'" guys were not only effective role players for the Cavs during the title run (brief reminder that RJ played 33, 14, 26, and 32 minutes in the four Cleveland wins during the 2016 Finals and Channing Frye went on a five-game stretch where he shot 14-23 from deep in the playoffs), they were just about the most entertaining players the Cavs have had in years.

Of course, LeBron James was the best player, and Kyrie was one of the flashiest players, and Cavs fans loved both of them, but there's a different kind of reverence for Richard and Channing. Proof of this was when Richard Jefferson - at least partly due to the love of Cavs fans - showed up during the playoffs to do pre-game TV interviews for Fox Sports Ohio. People ate it up. He was just the right amount of professional, charistmatic, and sarcastic, and Cavs forums posted clips of him constantly. It was fun. It would be fun to have him back full-time. He is likable.

His foil, of course, has been Channing Frye.

Channing is the best. For as much as people love Richard Jefferson, they have at least as much love for Channing Frye. Proof of that comes in the form of the highest-rated posts on Cavs Reddit over the past month: The top five are all "Thanks, LeBron" posts, and then the next one is "Happy Birthday RJ," followed by "The Cavs just signed Channing Frye."

People are nuts for these guys, and rightly so. Channing Frye is not only a top-tier Instagrammer, one of the league's best playful shit-talkers, and a cheerful and well-mannered guy, he's also a really useful basketball player.

Consider the following:

The Cavaliers are likely going to struggle this year

They lost the best player I've ever seen and rumors are swirling that more players are on the trading block (rightly so - gotta keep that top-10 pick instead of shipping it out to Atlanta). George Hill is a valuable trade-chip, and Kevin Love deserves to have his preferences bowed to; if he wants to be traded, he ought to be traded.

The Cavaliers are going to play a lot of young players

Cedi Osman and Collin Sexton are almost definitely going to get substantial minutes for this team. Fans are even starting to clamor for Scoochie Smith to make the team after a really solid stretch in the summer league. (Below are some Scoochie Smith highlights)

The Cavs will be a little short on shooting, particularly if Korver gets trade

Shooters on the current roster include Kevin Love, Kyle Korver, JR Smith, and George Hill. There is a <10% chance that all four of those guys remain on the Cavaliers throughout most of this season. I would be shocked if even three of them were still Cavs after the trade deadline, meaning the overall shooting on this roster may get worse. Rodney Hood may be gone as well, so who knows who will be out there to get and make open shots.

Doesn't a veteran presence, a likeable guy, and a top-tier spot-up shooter seem like the perfect thing to add into that mix? He's great in the locker room, he makes young guards look good by making open shots, and he's inexpensive. Plus, with a new contract, he's not much in the way of trade-bait.

Truthfully, the Cavs haven't done a lot this off-season other than get mentioned in trade rumors. They recently announced that Kendrick Perkins won't be back, which is a painful loss considering the (checking his game-log) one game he played in last year. The roster is currently made up of older guys on big, trade-ready contracts and young guys who haven't done much in the NBA. Channing Frye is the only veteran on a team-friendly deal - although Rodney Hood is still unsigned, so there's no telling what comes out of that.

The point of all of this is that Channing Frye, while a great signing for local morale, is actually a good signing for the team overall, for all of the reasons interspersed above. The perfect complement to him now would just be if Fox Sports Ohio brought Richard Jefferson back full-time. Then those two could just be idiots together every day.

A guy can dream, right?

Quick: Who are the two most beloved members of the Cleveland Cavaliers from the past three years? LeBron James and Kyrie Irving? Wrong. Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson? Wrong again. Mo Williams and Edy Tavares? You're getting warmer, but still wrong.

The correct answer, of course, is Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye. The "Road Trippin'" guys were not only effective role players for the Cavs during the title run (brief reminder that RJ played 33, 14, 26, and 32 minutes in the four Cleveland wins during the 2016 Finals and Channing Frye went on a five-game stretch where he shot 14-23 from deep in the playoffs), they were just about the most entertaining players the Cavs have had in years.

Of course, LeBron James was the best player, and Kyrie was one of the flashiest players, and Cavs fans loved both of them, but there's a different kind of reverence for Richard and Channing. Proof of this was when Richard Jefferson - at least partly due to the love of Cavs fans - showed up during the playoffs to do pre-game TV interviews for Fox Sports Ohio. People ate it up. He was just the right amount of professional, charistmatic, and sarcastic, and Cavs forums posted clips of him constantly. It was fun. It would be fun to have him back full-time. He is likable.

His foil, of course, has been Channing Frye.

Channing is the best. For as much as people love Richard Jefferson, they have at least as much love for Channing Frye. Proof of that comes in the form of the highest-rated posts on Cavs Reddit over the past month: The top five are all "Thanks, LeBron" posts, and then the next one is "Happy Birthday RJ," followed by "The Cavs just signed Channing Frye."

People are nuts for these guys, and rightly so. Channing Frye is not only a top-tier Instagrammer, one of the league's best playful shit-talkers, and a cheerful and well-mannered guy, he's also a really useful basketball player.

Consider the following:

The Cavaliers are likely going to struggle this year

They lost the best player I've ever seen and rumors are swirling that more players are on the trading block (rightly so - gotta keep that top-10 pick instead of shipping it out to Atlanta). George Hill is a valuable trade-chip, and Kevin Love deserves to have his preferences bowed to; if he wants to be traded, he ought to be traded.

The Cavaliers are going to play a lot of young players

Cedi Osman and Collin Sexton are almost definitely going to get substantial minutes for this team. Fans are even starting to clamor for Scoochie Smith to make the team after a really solid stretch in the summer league. (Below are some Scoochie Smith highlights)

The Cavs will be a little short on shooting, particularly if Korver gets trade

Shooters on the current roster include Kevin Love, Kyle Korver, JR Smith, and George Hill. There is a <10% chance that all four of those guys remain on the Cavaliers throughout most of this season. I would be shocked if even three of them were still Cavs after the trade deadline, meaning the overall shooting on this roster may get worse. Rodney Hood may be gone as well, so who knows who will be out there to get and make open shots.

Doesn't a veteran presence, a likeable guy, and a top-tier spot-up shooter seem like the perfect thing to add into that mix? He's great in the locker room, he makes young guards look good by making open shots, and he's inexpensive. Plus, with a new contract, he's not much in the way of trade-bait.

Truthfully, the Cavs haven't done a lot this off-season other than get mentioned in trade rumors. They recently announced that Kendrick Perkins won't be back, which is a painful loss considering the (checking his game-log) one game he played in last year. The roster is currently made up of older guys on big, trade-ready contracts and young guys who haven't done much in the NBA. Channing Frye is the only veteran on a team-friendly deal - although Rodney Hood is still unsigned, so there's no telling what comes out of that.

The point of all of this is that Channing Frye, while a great signing for local morale, is actually a good signing for the team overall, for all of the reasons interspersed above. The perfect complement to him now would just be if Fox Sports Ohio brought Richard Jefferson back full-time. Then those two could just be idiots together every day.

A guy can dream, right?

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