Oh, Frye me a river: Veteran forward is a safe space for Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers know what they have in veteran Channing Frye, and that’s just fine.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are going to have a world of uncertainty surrounding their team this season. They are not going to win 50 games again this year like they did in 2017-18, and you can quote me on that. Unlike Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson, I will jump in the lake in early January, too, of the next year following the season if they do. The Cavs are going to have a team that will probably have their share of highs and lows, and having a few veterans on the roster with Channing Frye‘s attitude and steady play as a floor-spacing big will be a big lift at times.

As the saying goes, “it’s a make or miss league,” and young players are probably going to miss more often than they make.

What creativity in that saying, though, huh?

In all seriousness, Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue could have a difficult year ahead. The Cavaliers are going to need a 20-10 year out of an injury-prone Kevin Love (if not more), and their key younger pieces such as Rodney Hood, rookie Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman, Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson and David Nwaba will need to provide significant production on most nights.

That’s definitely possible, as all of those players have their set of strengths, but they also are young, and they’re going to struggle in a number of instances. That’s probably what Lue was referring to when he said this on Cavaliers’ media day Monday, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

With the Cavaliers probably being inconsistent this year on both ends of the floor, with their rotation probably fluid with young players still learning a new system and older players (such as George Hill, J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver) potentially being trade pieces to contenders, Frye’s easy-going presence in the locker room will play a key role for the psyche of a team in an unfamiliar position.

Frye is a player that’s going to keep the mood light for both young guys trying to figure things out on the fly and for veterans potentially playing less than they might be accustomed to in meaningful games. In addition, with Love’s ongoing battle with mental health issues he’s alluded to throughout this year, Frye (one of Love’s best friends) could really provide a positive presence to be around in a season that could produce some rough patches.

Love is now the leader of the Cavaliers, and his teammates, especially the young players like Hood and Sexton, need his mind to be right. Love seemed to be great mentally during Cleveland’s media day, and had a positive team outlook talking to reporters after the beginning of training camp, but it’s not going to be all bells and whistles in a season where the Cavs could realistically miss the postseason for the first time since 2013-14.

If “We’re [the Cavs] gonna surprise a lot of people” as Love said at media day, per Tony Zarrella of Cleveland 19 News, it’s going to take a team having an uber-positive mindset.

Now, that doesn’t mean everybody is going to hold hands and sing Kumbaya, but having a low-maintenance player who has been around a long time, and has been in trades before can be a calming presence for all the players in the locker room and on the court. Frye was shipped off at the trade deadline last year, when he was traded by the Cavs to the Los Angeles Lakers and is now back on a veteran-minimum deal.

Frye is not a player who probably will be playing many significant minutes as the season progresses. Cleveland won’t be getting much defensively from him as a 35-year old non-switchable defender, and he’s limited offensively as mostly a spot-up or pick-and-pop shooter, but he is a player who is going to a defacto coach on the sideline and he’s going to bring an infectious personality to the team everyday in a long, grueling season. Lue had this soundbite in regards to The Frye Effect at media day, per Lauren Brill of Cleveland WEWS.

Frye is not going to be the reason Cleveland makes the postseason, but he’s certainly not going to be the reason they miss it, either. In the relatively short minutes share he’ll have, he’ll still be able to be an effective screener on and off-ball and he’ll hit perimeter shots.

He’s a career 38.7 percent three-point shooter and has a career 54.7 true shooting percentage, per Basketball Reference. The guy is somebody players can throw the ball to in the corner and joke around with post-game. After all, the Road Trippin’ podcast extraordinaire is a one-trick Clydesdale….. WITH A RING!

For younger and more-tenured players alike, that skill set is a good thing to have in a wily old veteran teammate. His impact will be bigger than most realize. It was considerable with Cleveland as a Finals contender, and it will probably be even more now in a transitional period.