Channing Frye might not be long for the Cleveland Cavaliers. With the trade deadline inching ever closer and the Cavaliers a part of nearly every major trade rumor on the market, Frye might be sent out of Cleveland in order to bring in another player that could help Cleveland make a long postseason run.
But Frye says he’s not worried about getting traded at all: he wants to win. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported Tuesday on Frye and how trade rumors haven’t derailed his attention on winning with the Cavaliers.
“I’ve been traded before,” Frye told ESPN. “What am I going to do? Listen, my checks transfer to Sacramento. I think at the end of the day, we have pretty good communication, and business is business. I want to be here to win. My main goal here, the only goal that everybody should have here, is to win a chip. So your personal feelings of what you think is best for you doesn’t matter. At all. If you’re not here to win a championship, you need to get the f— out of here.”
The story mostly talked about how affable Frye is, but it also included a bit about how much Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue didn’t want Frye to get moved by general manager Koby Altman.
One trade scenario that almost came to fruition, as reported by ESPN and other outlets, would have sent Frye and Iman Shumpert to the Sacramento Kings for guard George Hill. Cavs coach Tyronn Lue was against including Frye in the Hill trade, league sources told ESPN, because he deems the stretch-5 too valuable to include in a move that does not result in a clear-cut improvement to Cleveland’s championship chances.
Frye speaking practically here is a good sign for the Cavs, who almost certainly will make a move at some point here. Whether it’s Frye and his expiring contract that goes out the door or not, it seems like he’s focused on winning until the trade deadline and beyond.
“I still might get traded,” Frye said. “So, while I’m here, what am I supposed to do? Help us win. Make sure we’re playing championship-level basketball and at the end of the day, if I’m not playing or in the rotation, I want to play and I want to help the team get to a chip and I want to play in a championship game.”
