RealGM

There seems to be some disagreement about whether he is a 4 or 5. In a lot of next year's mock lineups people have him listed as one or the other and nobody seems to care which, but that could fundamentally shape the team. This a big deal in terms of who we draft, free agents, etc.

I'm curious what people think.

In our system he needs to be both. If he is starting, he will a four. If he is coming off the bench, he could be either. If Lawal can be our Lou 2.0, we could easily run Frye at the five.

Back-up C once we move Lopez.

A back-up PF.

He is no longer 6'10 SG Eddie House

He's a stretch 4 who can play C.

^Agreed with Fish

Out incumbent starting PF, but could be better suited (even if his numbers don't show it) as our first big off the bench, and still 28-30mins a night

Always preferred him as our first big off the bench but we don't really have a starting caliber 4 so we have to start him.

Yup. Prefer him off the bench because he does a lot of damage that way. If we can get a starting caliber four, Dudley and Frye off the bench is amazing.
Back on topic, I'd say he is both, lol.

i would say he's more natural at PF. A real center should average about 10 boards a game and a couple blocks. He's seems a bit undersized. At the end of the season his post game was improving quite a bit. I hope he works on it a ton this summer.

Right now he's our starting PF. Unless we can find someone better, which is questionable without a CBA in place, he's probably not headed to the bench. I do think he is the weakest link of the starting five of Nash, Dudley, Hill, Frye, Gortat. If he could improve on defense again in 2012 like he did in 2011 that would be a big bonus.

Yes, this is a simple question.

As some of you mentioned, it comes down to Lopez.

If Lopez is on roster, Frye is a PF.
If Lopez is traded, Frye is a C.

Simple as that.

Less versatile Tony Kokoc. Not a starter but a great bench weapon.

?? he's nothing like Kukoc!

He's like Okur/a lesser rebounding Murphy

Kukoc? Not a chance.

Man....could you IMAGINE Toni Kukoc on the SSOL teams?!

He doesnt attack the ring enough to be a PF, nor is he agile enough defensively to be a PF... he is a C to me, who can spot minutes as a PF.... obviously not his optimum position, hence the Suns are not a better team with him as a PF....

To me, he's a Euro center - a stretch 5. The Anti-Bargs, though, because he improved his post game, his rebounding and his defense. I agree with you all that bringing him ands Duds off the bench is a huge lift for us but as Frank has pointed out, who beats them out as starters?

Damn I miss our team from two years ago

Could be a starter 4, but in the ideal world I would rather have him as the first big off the bench. Right now though, he's our best option to start at the Power Forward.

Regardless of the answer, I'd like to point out one thing that coaching/management has done a good job of over the last few years (post-D'Antoni): Being on the bench is no longer necessarily a sign that your contributions are less important than the starters. Frye, Lou, Duds, Gortat, et al have all come off the bench with a clear sense that they were often as important, if not more so, than the starting 5.

I pretty much agree with almost everything people are saying in this thread, but I wanted to highlight something.

1) On Offense: He's a . . . who gives a sh*t? He's a stretch big. It doesn't matter which position you technically slot him in for offense: the point is that he isn't in the paint, which opens that area for either a power forward or a center (as well as drivers, cutters, pick-and-rolls, etc).

2) On Defense: This is the question. Would you rather have him guarding power forwards or centers?? (And which creates mismatches on the other end?)

Yeah Kokoc was a poor comparison. I just think if Frye could add a little dribble-drive move or could pull up off the dribble he could be really dangerous. Not asking him to be an all star but i think he can improve his skills.

Los Soles wrote:I pretty much agree with almost everything people are saying in this thread, but I wanted to highlight something.

1) On Offense: He's a . . . who gives a sh*t? He's a stretch big. It doesn't matter which position you technically slot him in for offense: the point is that he isn't in the paint, which opens that area for either a power forward or a center (as well as drivers, cutters, pick-and-rolls, etc).

2) On Defense: This is the question. Would you rather have him guarding power forwards or centers?? (And which creates mismatches on the other end?)

One offense: I'm with you...Just keep him playing with Steve Nash
On defense: Just keep Gortat guarding the primary PnR big man, let Frye defend whatever big remains

/over simplification