9 Players the New York Knicks gave up on way too soon
Channing Frye, Phoenix Suns. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
6. Channing Frye
The New York Knicks used a premium pick in 2005 on Arizona big man Channing Frye, drafting him with the eighth pick. Frye was a standout college player who led the Wildcats to an Elite Eight berth as a senior before entering the draft.
Frye did not get off to a shining start with the Knicks. He averaged 12.3 points per game as a rookie, then in his second season became a (mostly) full-time starter but slipped back to 9.5 points, hitting only 16.7 percent of his sparse 3-point attempts. Frye wasn’t exactly playing in the best ecosystem, with a hodge-podge of ho-hum names from Knicks history around him (Eddy Curry, Jared Jeffries, Nate Robinson, Quentin Richardson) but he was certainly a late bloomer in the NBA.
The Knicks lost patience with Frye after his second season, tossing him into a deal along with Steve Francis to the Portland Trail Blazers for a package including Zach Randolph (he may pop back up later on this list). Frye had a couple of middling seasons in Portland before joining the Phoenix Suns in 2009-10, where his career took off.
Frye was never an All-Star, but he did develop into a reliable stretch-big with the Suns. His 3-pointer was unleashed playing for Mike D’Antoni and Alvin Gentry; he hit 20 3-pointers through four seasons in the league, and suddenly hit 172 in his first season in Phoenix. Suddenly, Frye was stretching opposing defenses in ways they were not used to, and he became one of the most effective offensive centers in the league. As the Knicks cycled through mediocrity at center, Frye could have made a difference.
