When you hear Phoenix Suns fans tell the story, the Suns dropped the ball in re-signing their crucial stretch-4.
Phoenix went for broke and tried to get a big-name player to add to the successful crew they had last year. Were they going to match the offer the Magic sent his way? That was not entirely clear. In any case, Frye left Phoenix and arrived in Orlando.
Frye has made it no secret even early in this season that he expects this team to make a push for some wins. Even to make the Playoffs if it should happen.
After the Raptors’ loss in Toronto, Frye made it clear he was tired of losing. After Friday night’s game against the Pacers, he asked his team to have a little more urgency (echoing some of the complaints from Evan Fournier following the loss to the Warriors):
"“It was a dangerous time, I don’t know, how many losses ago. We want to get better. That sense of urgency should start to get in people’s guts now and we’ve just got to pick it up. We did some good things, but we can’t have lulls and we’re not good enough to completely (mess) up the third quarter like that, especially against a good team with veterans.”"
The Magic certainly need that at this point of the season. With the team on the road for a difficult road trip and riding a sizeable losing streak, the Magic have to come together at this point and find a way to persevere.
Frye becomes a big part of that as a leader in the locker room. When you talk to him, and you can see from the comments above, you get the sense that he feels the responsibility of leadership for this group. He will have to continue to be a leader behind the scenes, even if the issues are somewhat deeper than he can solve.
Where Frye continues to need to continue to produce is on the floor. Frye has tapered off some but continues to be the Magic’s best 3-point option. He is averaging 8.9 points per game and is shooting 42.7 percent from beyond the arc. If things continue however, this will be the first year Frye will have scored less than 10 points per 36 minutes. He is currently at 9.9 points per 36 minutes.
For sure, the Magic could use a bit more production from Frye on the floor. Not just in him making more 3-pointers but in getting him more 3-pointers too. He is currently averaging 4.8 3-point attempts per game.
According to Basketball-Reference, his victories over replacement player are only slightly down from last year’s breakout season in Phoenix. So Frye is contributing, maybe as much as he can. And certainly Frye could do a little more defensively and do a better job on the glass — he has a 1.0 percent offensive rebound rate and has grabbed 52.4 percent of his rebound opportunities according to NBA.com.
There is a little bit more Frye can do.
Certainly, Frye is not complaining about how much money he is making. Most turned their heads in disbelief when Frye got his four-year, $32 million deal.
Could Frye though be contributing more to the Magic’s wins?
Is Frye getting what he can out of his time in Orlando? Is he accomplishing what he hoped?
That might be something to ask when the Magic return from this road trip.