The Orlando Magic's Channing Frye is being shopped, according to a report. Where could he land?
The rumor was first floated by Zach Lowe of Grantland in his piece about the Cavs options in case Tristan Thompson holds out (which he did). Lowe's statement is that "sources around the league say Channing Frye is available now for very little, though Magic officials deny it."
On that note, Cleveland would be an option for Frye and they could offer the exception. Aside from the Cavs, the Magic have other options, as explored by Today's Fastbreak.
The Atlanta Hawks have recently acquired center Tiago Splitter from the San Antonio Spurs in the cap-clearing move for LaMarcus Aldridge. TF presents the rationale that the Hawks thrive with big men who can shoot from outside-something Splitter can't do but Frye does well.
"By bringing Frye to Atlanta, the Hawks would be able to restore a lot of the floor spacing that left with (former center Pero) Antic. Plus: Antic shot 31.4% from deep in his two NBA seasons, while Frye has a career average of 38.6%."
Another trade partner could be the Dallas Mavericks. This team needs scoring from their bigs and Frye can be acquired for a package of Zaza Pachulia and Dwight Powell.
The Orlando Magic's new head coach Scott Skiles would prefer defense oriented bigs and Pachulia is clearly tougher than Frye. Powell is just about to come out on his own and the Magic could take him as a low-risk, possibly high-return player.
The Chicago Bulls could be a player as they would probably seek to trade Taj Gibson to free up the logjam of talent at the power forward position. Channing Frye would be part of a package that includes Evan Fournier to offer more shooting and spacing for the Bulls who are now prioritizing offense under new coach Fred Hoiberg. On the other hand, the Magic's coach Skiles would love a blue-collar hard worker in Gibson.
Will Channing Frye end up on any of these teams before the Trade Deadline?