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Suns pushing to re-sign Channing Frye, sources tell Yahoo. After opting-out of deal, Frye's surveying market, including Cavs, Warriors.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 1, 2014
Free agent Channing Frye is reportedly interested in the Golden State Warriors, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo!
Having opted out of his contract with the Phoenix Suns, he's an unrestricted free agent but the Suns are apparently still interested in addition to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
What others are saying about Frye
Tom Ziller of SB Nation ranked Frye #22 in his list of top 75 free agents, highlighting the skill that has Warriors fans excited: his shooting as a stretch four.
...Frye is a classic stretch-four with a history of making his team better. More than half of his shots last season were threes, and for his career he hits them at a 38-percent rate. He's not a prolific scorer (under 15 points per 36 minutes traditionally) and he's an atrocious rebounder. But Phoenix's overall numbers are much better when he's on the floor. He'll be popular among teams looking for shooting.
Defensively, he's serviceable as xRAPM rates him as a small positive on that end of the floor. But realistically, the appeal of Frye this offseason is his shooting ability.
So Channing Frye shot 46% in the pick and pop on no-dribble jumpers. 1.282 PPP.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) June 30, 2014
Why Frye makes sense for the Warriors
Warriors fans have widely discussed the possibility of Frye as the team's stretch four fallback option should the team not acquire Kevin Love in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. His skill set would be a great addition to a frontcourt rotation that already has a defensive piece in Andrew Bogut and a (usually) solid mid-range threat in David Lee. He would clearly fit in nicely to spread the court alongside Steph Curry and Klay Thompson with Andrew Bogut playing more of a facilitator role in the middle.
The fact that he has connections to Andre Iguodala and Steve Kerr could probably be seen as a major asset for those enamored with the idea of maintaining chemistry as the team goes through changes.
Why the Warriors might not make sense for Frye
The problem with Frye has less to do with his game than what he might command on the open market: he opted out of his $6.8 million contract to find something better, which gives us an idea of his price range.
Having opted out of his contract, he's obviously not a restricted free agent but Phoenix has a lot more flexibility under the cap in terms of what they can offer to keep him in the state where he also attended college. And in both of Frye's reported alternative situations, there's probably a chance for more playing time and a bigger role. Although the Warriors certainly have the best shot of these teams at making a deep playoff run - which has to figure into things for the 31-year-old Frye - it's not often that guys would turn down money and playing time as Frye would almost certainly have to in order to end up in the Bay.
What the Warriors have to be hoping here is that the combination of relationships and a winning situation trump money, given the current situation.
For more on the Warriors' free agent pursuits, check out our 2014 free agency section. To keep track of who's signing where, check out SB Nation's free agent signing tracker.