Fansided

Magic Trade Rumors: Channing Frye could be moved

By Cody Williams

Dec 28, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic forward Channing Frye (8) reacts to making a basket during the second quarter of a basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 28, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic forward Channing Frye (8) reacts to making a basket during the second quarter of a basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Veteran Orlando Magic forward Channing Frye could be on the move at the NBA Trade Deadline

The Orlando Magic are an exceptionally young NBA team that seems on the cusp of something special, but they haven’t quite reached those heights just yet in the 2015-16 season. Subsequently, the Magic are a candidate to be active at the 2016 NBA Trade Deadline in terms of moving some of their veteran players to contenders. One such player that has been inquired about is forward Channing Frye.

According to a report from Sean Deveney of Sporting News, there have been numerous calls to the Orlando front office asking about the 32-year-old Frye, with one league executive saying that Frye is a player that “you will hear a lot more about before the deadline.”

Frye currently has two years and $15.2 million left on his contract, which might seem potentially hard to move on the trade market. Deveney says that’s not the case, though, as many of the front offices around the league view Frye as the type of player that could really bolster the roster of a contender and be a piece that could put them over the hump if the Magic were to move him.

Making him potentially more likely to be moved is that his role in Orlando has substantially dissipated as the season wears on. Though he’s played 17.5 minutes per game on the year as a whole, he hasn’t eclipsed 12 minutes on the floor in any of his last six games and received a DNP-Coach’s Decision in his last outing this past weekend.

The Magic are clearly looking to rely more heavily on their youth in the second half of the season, which leaves Frye out in the cold in their rotation. However, Frye’s ability to stretch the floor by providing offense on the perimeter at the power forward position is a valuable commodity in today’s NBA, which makes him a highly coveted trade asset leading up to the deadline. Nothing’s certain, but a trade for Frye seems sensible and likely at this point for the Magic and whichever contender is interested.

Home/NBA