This still isn't completely official yet because of some third team complications but we're going to assume it's going through no matter what. The Phoenix Suns continue to completely revamp their roster by sending guard Leandro Barbosa to the Toronto Raptors for forward Hedo Turkoglu. The Suns also sent part of the trade exception they received for Amare Stoudemire to get the deal done. Barbosa has been a bit up and down since his breakout season a few years back and has struggled to find his place in the rotation. Turkoglu is a very interesting case. He had a tremendous playoff run with the Magic in 2009 and turned that into big money. Unfortunately, however, he spurned the Trail Blazers at the eleventh hour and opted to sign in Toronto. The Blazers would have been a great fit for Turkoglu whereas the Raptors were never really thrilled to have him on board but had to do something with their cap space to keep Chris Bosh happy. (We see how that turned out.)
Anyway, the Raptors were looking to get rid of Turkoglu almost immediately and the feeling seemed to be mutual. In Barbosa the Raptors get a solid combo guard who is as fast as anyone in the league and can fill it up when he gets hot. And more importantly, they clear Turkoglu (and his $55 million) off the cap and get a fresh start. The Suns on the other hand get a seriously talented guy who can handle the ball, shoot a little, and play multiple positions, all of which make him highly valuable for the Suns. However, they also get to deal with his inflated contract and are now stuck playing super small ball yet again, a system to fail in the playoffs. I don't know how a starting lineup consisting of Steve Nash, Jason Richardson, Josh Childress, Turkoglu, and Channing Frye expects to guard ANYONE and there's not a single guy in that lineup that you can count on to average 20 points a game. Plus, Turkoglu and Childress are a bit redundant. This is the problem with the Suns. They don't want to commit the money to make a real run at building a contender and yet because of Steve Nash, they're unwilling to start the rebuilding process. They can probably win 45 games but it won't translate to postseason success so I'm not sure what the point is here.
Raptors Grade: B+
Suns Grade: B-
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