Raptors Hedo Turkoglu headed to Suns?

The Suns are on the verge of acquiring forwards Hedo Turkoglu and Josh Childress, swiftly rebounding from the loss of Amar’e Stoudemire with two quality impact players, according to the ARIZONA REPUBLIC.

The Suns would send guard Leandro Barbosa to Toronto for Turkoglu, a 6-foot-10 Turkish forward with versatile skills to shoot from long range and be a playmaker. Turkoglu could become the Suns’ starting power forward in place of Stoudemire, allowing new acquisition Hakim Warrick to come off the bench with Childress, Channing Frye, Jared Dudley and Goran Dragic.

Phoenix would acquire Childress in a sign-and-trade deal with Atlanta, which still has his rights after he left the Hawks and the NBA to take a three-year, $20 million deal with the Greek team Olympiakos in 2008. Phoenix will give up a future second-round pick to acquire Childress. The Suns would use some of their remaining $12.2 million trade exception to make both deals.

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July 12, 2010, 12:02 am

Former Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza headed to Raptors?

Linas Kleiza, the former Nugget who played splendidly in Greece last season, has agreed to a four-year, $20 million deal with the Toronto Raptors and will sign the offer sheet today, agent Bill Duffy confirmed this morning. The Nuggets, already over the salary cap this season, have a week to match the offer, but as of now, Duffy didn’t sense the Nuggets were going to do so. – Denver Post

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July 9, 2010, 6:35 am

Raptors GM: I’m not buying losing approach

Bryan Colangelo may be under siege now, but there is no surrender to be had. No retreat, either. No, the general manager of the Toronto Raptors is not going to rebuild; he’s not even going to use the word. He prefers “retool,” or “re-engineer.” Those teams that tank a year or two and try to win the right lottery? That’s not happening here.“I’m not buying the losing approach,” Colangelo said, with some passion, in a back-and-forth with media yesterday. “I’m not buying it. I’m not buying planning to lose. Plan to win. Plan to compete. “My strategy, my approach, has always been to try to move forward and put the most competitive and entertaining team out there, and justify the investment that the people put into season tickets, corporate partnerships. And I don’t want to leave anything on the table in terms of that effort.” – National Post

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July 9, 2010, 4:18 am

Would Bulls trade Joakim Noah?

The Raptors are talking to several teams, including the Bulls, but have little idea on where Chris Bosh wants to go. (Don’t rule out the Rockets.) Trading Joakim Noah to the Raptors makes little sense because his presence is an enticement to Bosh, who has said he doesn’t want to play center. Also, even if the Bulls engineered a sign-and-trade with the Raptors, it would be surprising to see Wade or James accept a five-year, $96 million contract to join Bosh as a lower-paid player with the Bulls or Heat. And the Bulls don’t have enough assets to engineer two sign-and-trades. – Chicago Tribune

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July 7, 2010, 7:38 am