LAS VEGAS, July 7 — Channing Frye had a new jersey number and a new identity awaiting when he landed here Saturday morning. His chest and shoulders were thicker, and his outlook unmistakably brighter.

Two years after coming to Las Vegas as a highly regarded Knicks rookie — only to find disappointment and mayhem in New York — Frye returned here as a happy new member of the young and highly promising Portland Trail Blazers.

The Knicks dealt Frye, the eighth overall pick in 2005, to the Blazers on draft night, in exchange for Zach Randolph. After making the best of a bad situation in New York, Frye seemed thrilled to get a new start in Portland, where he is joining one of the most talented young rosters in the league.

“Oh, I loved it,” Frye said Saturday, in his first interview since the trade. “It’s the best place for me to be right now. All the players that are here, I love them already. It’s going to be a great situation for both the Blazers and myself. I couldn’t be happier, from going back to the West Coast to playing with younger guys and having a great coaching staff.”

Frye, who grew up in Arizona, was so eager to get started with his new team that he flew here Saturday to work out with the Blazers’ summer-league team. He will not play in the games, but being here gives him a head start on team bonding. Two of his frontcourt mates — center Greg Oden, the No. 1 pick in the June draft, and forward LaMarcus Aldridge, a lottery pick in 2006 — are playing on the team. Guard Brandon Roy, the rookie of the year, is also here, though not playing.

Frye said he was not seeking a trade, but he certainly did not mind it, either. After a promising rookie year, Frye stumbled last season as the offense became dominated by center Eddy Curry. Bumped out of the low post, Frye was relegated to taking 18-foot jumpers, and his confidence suffered. His scoring average dipped from 12.3 points as a rookie to 9.5 points last season.

Asked if Curry’s growth had come at his expense, Frye said: “Stuff is going to happen. Good for him. That’s why I’m here right now.”

“We call him a little bit of a fallen angel,” Portland’s general manager, Kevin Pritchard, said of Frye. “I think he had a down year.”

Pritchard said that he had been high on Frye since the 2005 draft, and that his enthusiasm had not waned.

“I mean, he’s a 24-year-old player in this league,” he said. “Guys don’t peak, especially bigs don’t peak, until 28, 29. So we’ve got five years to develop him.”

Posted by playa2:

EitherChanning Frye is a bigtime wuss, or he played his way out of NY very quietly and has a lot to show the NBA from out west.

"No Offense" - David Lee