Suns Add Childress, Turkoglu

By: Stephen Patterson

The Phoenix Suns will acquire Josh Childress and Hedo Turkoglu in separate trades according to the Arizona Republic. The Suns sent a 2012 second round draft pick to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Childress, who spent last season in Greece. Phoenix is expected to sign him to a deal in the neighborhood of 5-years/$30 million. The Suns traded Leandro Barbosa to the Toronto Raptors for Turkoglu.

Turkoglu could be the team's starting power forward in place of Amare Stoudemire, who signed with the Knicks last week. This move would allow fellow new addition Hakim Warrick to come off the bench. Turkoglu had a turbulent season with the Raptors last season, and it was widely believed Toronto would attempt to move him during the summer. If Turkoglu can play to his potential, he can be a very productive scorer. I expect he return to his previous form with the change of scenery, and while he may not be Amare, he's still a quality starter.

The Childress deal is already official and will give the team a small forward that is capable of starting or coming off the bench, depending on how he looks in training camp. Childress shot over 50% during his four seasons with Atlanta, so hopefully he will bring that accuracy to Phoenix.

While the Suns definitely lost one of their most popular players, they have done a nice job of being in quality players with the acquisitions of Childress, Warrick, and Turkoglu. I don't expect them to have a great season ending with a deep postseason run, but Phoenix will definitely still have a competitive team this year.