The Cleveland Cavaliers welcomed new faces to their roster during the offseason. One of the areas they improved was their frontline. The Cavs added the likes of Jeff Green, Jae Crowder, Cedi Osman, and Ante Zizic. Due to the arrival of these guys, Channing Frye's minutes got limited this preseason. The decrease in his playing time will likely continue in the 2017-18 regular season. In a report by Cleveland.com, Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue shared that he apologized to Frye for this. "I was like man I'm sorry," the one-time champion coach said.
Lue added that Frye is okay with his current situation in Cleveland. Instead of complaining, the 34-year-old big man cherishes the opportunity to be with the Cavaliers. Lue also stated that Frye promised to continue working and is ready when the squad needs him.
Frye joined the Cavaliers via a trade in February of 2016. There is only a year remaining on his current contract. Before heading to Cleveland, the Arizona product had stints with the New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, and the Orlando Magic.
In the 2016-17 season, Frye did a good job as a member of the second unit for the Cavaliers. He had his best year in Cleveland as he averaged 9.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest.
Frontline logjam
Channing Frye is known to be a versatile frontcourt player in the NBA. It is one of the reasons why the Cleveland Cavaliers traded for him last year. Unfortunately, this attribute of his is unable to help him get significant playing time.
As mentioned, the Cavaliers have several new big men on their roster. They are the ones who will take most of the minutes at power forward and center, positions where Frye sees action.
The good news for the former first-round pick is it will be a long season, which means there are going to be times when Lue uses him.
LeBron James' return
In other Cleveland Cavaliers news, Tyronn Lue revealed that LeBron James is set to have his preseason debut today when they take on the Chicago Bulls. James is out for nearly two weeks after suffering an ankle injury when he stepped on the foot of Cedi Osman during one of the team's practices.
James will look to help Cleveland capture its first victory of the preseason. The Cavaliers are on a three-game losing slide, recently falling to the Washington Wizards, 102-94. Dwyane Wade, who was named a starter yesterday, has been starting in place of the three-time NBA champion.
