Channing Frye Signs with the Orlando Magic
Jan 26, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Phoenix Suns power forward Channing Frye (8) celebrates in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
The Orlando Magic have made their second free agent signing of the summer in Channing Frye.
Channing Frye has agreed to a four-year, $32 million deal with the Magic, source tells Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 7, 2014
It’s an interesting signing because the Magic now has four viable options at the power forward position.
In addition to Frye, Orlando also has Tobias Harris, Moe Harkless and the fourth overall pick of this year’s draft in Aaron Gordon.
Of course, there is the option to move one of these four players to the 3, which would likely be Harris since he’s the best scorer of the lot. In that scenario, you could possibly have Harris at the 3 and Frye at the 4.
Harris also happens to be the first cousin of Frye.
Frye has played eight seasons in the NBA, averaging 9.9 points per game.
However, he missed the entire 2012-13 season after a summer screening test revealed he had an enlarged heart.
The 31-year-old played last season, and the three years before his heart surgery, with the Phoenix Suns. He has also spent time with the Portland Trail Blazers and the New York Knicks.
Last year he averaged 11.1 PPG and 5.2 RPG on 43 per cent shooting from the floor. Frye also has the ability to stretch the floor with his 3-point shooting and last year shot at a 37 per cent clip from beyond the arc.
While he adds scoring, Frye also comes with a wealth of experience, something that was sorely lacking for the Magic with their youthful roster.
This signing may also spend the end of Andrew Nicholson’s Magic career as it’ll be extremely tough to find him regular minutes in the rotation.
The exact terms of the contract aren’t known yet, but GM Rob Hennigan tends to put in a team option or a partial/non guarantee in the later years of contracts, which in this case, would make a lot of sense.
Earlier this offseason, the Magic agreed to a deal with guard Ben Gordon.
Neither deal can be made official until July 10.