With the departure of Amare Stoudemire to the New York Knicks, the Phonix Suns appear to be returning to their old small ball formula with their recent acquisitions. Within a matter of hours they initiated a trade for Hedo Turkoglu (more on that to come once the deal is finalized) and agreed to terms on a sign and trade for Josh Childress (number 19 on the Big Board). Phoenix will send Atlanta a 2012 second round pick and part of the trade exception they received for Amare as compensation. Childress was a lottery pick in 2004 and played 4 seasons for the Hawks before spending the last 2 years in Greece. He's got great size and all around talent which probably translates to success in Phoenix. I've never been a big fan of his game compared to how he is valued. He doesn't score or shoot a lot and isn't a strong defender. He's also a surprisingly inefficient passer, at least in terms of his assist production. He contributes a little across the board and is an excellent glue guy, a good role player. Again, in the Phoenix system, he's probably more valuable than he would be on another team but I'm not super impressed with his overall impact. More to come on this when we get to the Turkoglu trade.
Grade: B
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