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The Toronto Raptors announced Wednesday they have acquired guard Leandro Barbosa (lee-AN-dro BAR-bow-sa) and forward-centre Dwayne Jones from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for forward Hedo Turkoglu.
“Leandro Barbosa is a player I'm quite familiar with and I'm very pleased that he is coming to Toronto,” said Raptors President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo. “His speed, quickness and scoring ability will mesh well with our desired playing style and talented young athletes.
“With the departure of Chris Bosh now real, this trade fits well with our plan of adding talent to the roster while establishing future salary cap flexibility.”
Barbosa, 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, captured the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award for the 2006-07 season after averaging career bests of 18.1 points, 4.0 assists and 32.7 minutes in 80 games.
In seven NBA seasons, Barbosa has averaged 12.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.0 steals and 25.1 minutes in 466 games. He has appeared in 64 playoff contests, averaging 10.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 23.3 minutes. He averaged 15.8 points in 11 outings in the 2007 postseason.
Barbosa was selected in the first round (28th overall) of the 2003 NBA Draft by San Antonio. His draft rights were acquired by Phoenix and then-General Manager Colangelo in a draft-night trade. The native of Sau Paulo, Brazil finished third in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage in 2005-06 at .444. He owns a career three-point field goal shooting percentage of .398 and a free throw accuracy of .828 per cent. He recorded a career-high 41 points versus Oklahoma City on February 20, 2009.
Jones, 6-foot-10, 250 pounds, is a five-year NBA veteran from St. Joseph’s. He has averaged 1.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 7.8 minutes in 82 career games.
Turkoglu was signed by Toronto as a free agent July 9, 2009. He averaged 11.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 30.7 minutes in 74 appearances (69 starts) in his lone campaign with the Raptors.
“After much fanfare and high expectations, things just didn't seem to work out here for Turk,” added Colangelo. “I'm certain he will move on and contribute great things to Phoenix. We wish him well.”