Cleveland Cavaliers Acquire Channing Frye From Orlando Magic In Three-Team Deal

By Brad Berreman

The wheeling and dealing in the last hours ahead of the NBA trade deadline has started. The Cleveland Cavaliers seemed likely to make some sort of move, and that has now happened with the acquisition of forward Channing Frye from the Orlando Magic in a three-team deal. The other notable piece involved in the trade is center Anderson Varejao, who will go from Cleveland to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports was the first to report the deal:

Frye gives Cleveland a “stretch-four” that fits their need for perimeter shooting to help space the floor with an eye toward taking down the Golden State Warriors in a potential NBA Finals rematch. He also brings far more offensive game to the table than Varejao does. A bench role behind Kevin Love will suit the 32-year-old Frye well, where what he does best can be put to use without exposing his shortcomings.

It’s worth wondering if de facto Cavaliers general manager LeBron James is pushing general manager in-title David Griffin to trade Love and a contingency plan is needed in case a bigger move is coming. If Love is moved in the next couple hours, Frye would get bumped up in the Cavaliers’ frontcourt rotation and possibly into a starting role. James can downplay his role in Cleveland’s moves all he wants, but if the acquisition of Frye is followed up quickly by Love being dealt, “The Chosen One” clearly had a lot of input.

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