Former NBA Champion Advises Cavaliers Not To Make Major Trades

Channing Frye is preaching patience for the Cavaliers in the midst of trade speculation swirling around the ballclub.

Nov 30, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) and guard Darius Garland (10) wait to enter the game in the first quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

We have been hearing endless speculation and fantasy trade ideas about the Cleveland Cavaliers ever since they were eliminated from the playoffs.

"They should split up Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland."

"They should trade Jarrett Allen."

"They should package Evan Mobley for a superstar."

Of course, most it is just fan conjecture and probably doesn't stand much of a chance of actually becoming a reality (although the Allen trade rumors may have been real for a moment).

More than likely, the Cavaliers will enter the 2024-25 NBA campaign with their "Core Four" of Mitchell, Garland, Allen and Mobley in tact, and former Cleveland big man Channing Frye—who was a member of the Cavs' 2016 championship team—thinks that's how it should be.

"Who are you going to get that's just going to magically make you better than Boston?" Frye said during an appearance on WKYC. "There is not one person, so be patient and continue to build your team on what is a Cleveland guy."

Frye has a point.

There is almost surely nothing the Cavaliers can do this summer that is suddenly going to put them on par with the Celtics, who just bounced Cleveland in a five-game second-round playoff series en route to an NBA championship this season.

The Cavs don't have all that much financial flexibility at the moment, so their biggest concern should be extending Mitchell (which seems inevitable) and continuing to develop players like Garland and Mobley as part of a methodical, organized process.

That's exactly what Boston did with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The C's bided their time while the Golden State Warriors were dominating the league, and when the Warriors declined, the Celtics finally pounced and won their first title since 2008.

The Cavaliers are building something positive. If they can find a move that would clearly make them better, then by all means, do it, but as Frye said: it's going to be hard to come by a cure-all trade that will suddenly vault Cleveland into championship contention overnight.

Cavs fans just need to embrace the process and hope it ends up better than what happened in Philadelphia the last five years.