Hedo Turkoglu to Phoenix: Do the Raptors Get the Better End of the Deal?

Even with the circus Chris Bosh have been running in the past couple of months, Hedo Turkoglu somehow managed to gain his spot at the drama-filled headlines. Unless he is planning on swindling his landlord in Yorkville, today might be the day we heard last of him.

More than several sources reported that a deal between Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors was engineered in which the Raptors will walk away with Leandro Barbosa and Dwayne Jones for disgruntled small forward Hedo Turkoglu.

I am sure some of the Raptors fans are thrilled by this acquisition, since Barbosa's name had popped out several times in the last two years as a trade rumor and welcomed by the fans with open arms.

From a purely talent standpoint, Turkoglu stands out. His a very creative guy with higher basketball IQ and court vision.

While he is an average on ball defender and underrated man-on-man defender, Barbosa isn't exactly a defensive mastermind either.

The Raptors fans who do not allow their emotions cloud their judgments all voted for keeping Hedo and giving him another chance to prove his worth. However, I can't say anybody would be too upset to hear that he is traded away.

Turkoglu is reportedly taking a pay cut to facilitate this trade by waiving $5 million from his trade kicker and $6 million of his guaranteed money from his contract from the final year.

This should at least stop rumors of him accepting the Bryan Colangelo's last minute offer just for more money and strengthens his case that he might have thought he would be a good fit in Toronto.

Both teams' fans are very excited about the trade, which is a rare occurrence. But how good a fit Leandro Barbosa will be for Toronto Raptors?

The so-called "Brazilian Blur" is best known for his speed and athleticism on the open court.

He is known to be a transition slasher, who is always looking to find his way to the basket in the painted area.

With him on-board, the Raptors now have three transition terrors who play at the shooting guard spot along with DeMar DeRozan and Sonny Weems; Barbosa being the only one who is capable of putting the ball on the floor.

If nothing, at least one of the self-proclaimed "Young Gunz" will see a considerable cut in their minutes. Considering Sonny Weems can play small forward minutes as well, this might work out for the best.

On the other hand, none of these guys are a notch above being decent role players and I am hard-pressed to see the benefit of concentrating the team with that level of talent.

Last season, Leandro Barbosa averaged 9.1 points at 0.425 shooting. His number of assists, rebounds, steals. and overall efficiency is nothing to rave about in more than 17 minutes of play time.

He is often criticized on disrupting the ball movement in Phoenix while he is trying to be the one-man-army by causally forcing jumpers and making low-chance drives to the rim.

He is not exactly a bargain either.

He is scheduled to be paid almost $15 million in two years, the second year being a player option.

Probably the most important skill he would bring to Toronto is his motor and energy level.

Given that Toronto historically never had both, this culture change makes me a bit hopeful towards future.

In Barbosa's defense, much like Turkoglu, he is coming from his worst shooting season of his seven years in the NBA. A change of scenery might help him to increase his efficiency and allow him to be an integral part of the rotation, a chance he rarely had in Phoenix.

He is a bit undersized to play shooting guard and I am not ruling out the possibility that he might be a better distributor in Toronto, again, a chance he rarely had under Steve Nash.

Bottom line is, this move looks a lot like a trash exchange between both teams, swapping players that did not fit their system.

Did we get the better end of the deal?

Time will tell...