The Mickael Pietrus era appears to be over in Phoenix, as the Suns have agreed to trade the small forward to the Raptors for a conditional second round draft pick, according to the Toronto Star.
Pietrus will need to pass the customary physical, which might get interesting considering the fact that he missed the last 12 games of last season due to a knee injury -- one he sought to treat with some fairly unconventional methods.
The Suns acquired Pietrus last December as part of the deal that brought Marcin Gortat and Vince Carter to Phoenix in exchange for Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu, and Earl Clark. Pietrus wasn’t a great fit in Phoenix; his teammates there didn’t seem to embrace his goofy personality in the positive way his teammates in Orlando had. And on the court, before the injury, Pietrus’s play could be described as inconsistent at best, damaging to his team’s chances at worst.
The conditional second round pick isn’t much to give up, and with just one year left on his deal at a cost of $5.3 million, he’s worth taking a shot at from the Raptors’ side. While the Suns aren’t expected to use the new amnesty clause to get out from under an existing player’s contract this season, if they did, Pietrus was the leading candidate to be cut under that provision.