CLEVELAND -- Power forward Channing Frye has been a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers for less than four months, but his impact has been felt in a big way during their 12-2 run through the first three rounds of the postseason on the way to the NBA Finals.
Heading into Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, Frye has converted 26 of his 45 three-point tries (57.8 percent) and 41 of his 66 overall attempts from the field (62.1 percent) to go along with 38 rebounds, seven blocked shots and six steals in the postseason.
“Channing’s that kid, he’s that new kid in school that doesn’t know there’s cliques, and he just sits at the table with everyone,” Cavaliers small forward Richard Jefferson said. “He puts random people on text chains. All of a sudden, I was on a text chain with ‘Bron, Kev and Champ, and you’re just like, ‘Why did you?’ He’s like, ‘I don’t know. You guys were the ones I wanted to talk to.’
“All of a sudden, the four of us are texting through a game, and these are little things with Channing and his personality and how happy he is to be here. He doesn’t care about any of the stuff on the outside. He just laughs and jokes and has a good time, and is really enjoying this experience.”
Having known his fellow University of Arizona product for several years, Jefferson knew as soon as rumors started to fly about Frye’s acquisition that it would be an impactful move for the Cavaliers.
“My initial reaction was I just wanted to make sure it was true before I got excited because it’s been well documented how long we’ve known each other and how close we are, so to have him here and go through that experience together has been amazing,” Jefferson said.
“On the other side of it, I knew what he could bring to the table. I knew how good he was, and I knew how good he would fit in because he’s another guy that wants to compete, that just wants to win. You tell him to do his job, and he’ll do it to the best of his ability. There’s no motives. There’s no ego, nothing for him. To get another guy like that, that can be in your rotation, it could be beneficial, and it’s proven that way.”
Like Jefferson, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue knew once Frye found his rhythm that he would be an integral part of the rotation.
“We knew what he could do when he came in,” Lue said. “We knew that he could shoot the ball. He’s a 39 percent career three-point shooter, and before he got here, before he started playing, he’s an underrated post defender.
“What he’s best at is guarding the post, seven foot with a long wingspan. His shooting ability to be able to space the floor at seven foot, is big for us, and really opens the floor for Kyrie and LeBron and those guys to drive to the basket.”
And according to Lue, players like Frye and Jefferson have made “a big influence” in the locker room on the Cavaliers’ run to The Finals for the second straight season, which is something he hopes will benefit the team in their rematch with a Warriors team that won an NBA-record 73 games during the regular season and overcame a 3-1 series deficit against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.
“It just shows, ‘We’re veterans. We’re going to come out and play hard every, single night. We might play four minutes, we might play 14 minutes, but we’re going to give it our all,’” Lue said. “The biggest thing for those two guys is having those guys in the locker room, talking to the other guys about what it’s about, about winning, and they’ve been on losing teams where they haven’t made the playoffs or you win 25 games. They’ve seen both sides of it, and I think just having those guys around to talk to the younger guys and be positive, but also, tell them the truth when they’re wrong.
“R.J.’s been big for us all year, just his professionalism, how he’s always ready, stays ready. The thing I like about R.J. is his physical presence on the defensive end. He really fights guys. He really gets into guys’ bodies, and he’s a guy that can make shots and can make straight-line drives. He’s been big for our club, especially when we play small at times. With him at the four, LeBron at the floor, he can really help us.”
