Frye catches fire

At the trade deadline, the Cleveland Cavaliers had a decision to make. Is it worth moving a beloved but cooked role player like Anderson Varejao in order to bring in a guy like Channing Frye? While Varejao wasn’t contributing and was almost completely unplayable, Frye didn’t appear to be a huge need for them.

They had Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love as their preferred starting big man duo. They had Timofey Mozgov, who was struggling but still a potentially valuable role player. They could play small with LeBron James at the 4, or even throw a veteran like Richard Jefferson or James Jones at the 4 in certain small sample situations. The Cavs would give up a first-round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers in order to unload Varejao. Then, they’d send a second-round pick and Jared Cunningham to the Orlando Magic for Frye, who has just over $15 million coming to him over the next two seasons.

It wasn’t a risky move in terms of disrupting team chemistry, but you still had to wonder if it was a proper appropriation of luxury tax dollars. Friday night in Game 3 of the series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks, Frye justified in skepticism surrounding just how necessary that move was …

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