PHOENIX, (Reuters) – The Phoenix Suns restored some firepower after losing forward Amar’e Stoudemire to free agency by agreeing trades to acquire Hedo Turkoglu and Josh Childress from the Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks, nba.com reported yesterday.
Sweet-shooting Turkish forward Turkoglu, 31, was added in a swap that will send 27-year-old guard Leandro Barbosa of Brazil to Toronto.
Swing man Childress, the sixth player taken in the 2004 NBA Draft, would join the Suns in return for a second-round draft pick. Childress left the Hawks to play with Olympiacos in Greece with Atlanta retaining his NBA rights.
Childress, 27, will receive a five-year, $34 million deal from Phoenix, according to the NBA website’s report.
Phoenix had some major reshuffling to do after five-time All-Star Stoudemire left the Suns to join the New York Knicks.
Last week the Suns added forward Hakim Warrick to their roster after sending a 2011 second-round draft pick to the Chicago Bulls.
Turkoglu, a key player for the Orlando Magic in their run to the NBA Finals two seasons ago, never meshed alongside the since-departed Chris Bosh in the Toronto attack.
He averaged 11.3 points for the Raptors last season, his lowest output since 2003-4 when he scored 9.2 points a game for the San Antonio Spurs.
The speedy Barbosa, highly effective in the open court playing an up-tempo game, will try to steer the Raptors in a new direction following their 40-42 campaign.
