In a streaming application receiving streaming data to be processed by a plurality of processing elements (PEs), one of a plurality of upstream PEs that reside on separate compute nodes and transmit data to a multi-input port PE is selected based on a data flow rate measured between at least two components in the plurality of PEs (e.g., an amount of incoming data per unit time or an amount of network bandwidth). At least one operator from the selected upstream PE is redeployed into the multi-input port PE. In some embodiments, the operator is selected from among a plurality of operators fused together in the selected upstream PE, un-fused from the selected upstream PE, and fused into the multi-input port PE. In some embodiments, a dynamic fusing capability is realized by selecting different ones of the plurality of upstream PEs in response to changes in the measured data flow rate.