Leandro Barbosa admits he was shocked to return to the Phoenix Suns, under a 10-day contract, but the veteran guard is appreciative of coming back to the team with which he earned the Sixth Man of the Year award and went deep into the NBA playoffs.

“I never thought I was going to have a chance to come to Phoenix, seriously,” Barbosa, 31, said. “I never thought I’d come back to the purple. I’m very happy. I had another opportunity to go to a different team but because of everything in the past that happened with me with the Suns, I feel like I have an identity with the city and the team and a couple guys who have played with me (Goran Dragic and Channing Frye) in the past.

"I decided to come here because I like the Suns. I can’t forget all the best times I had with this team and the fans were great and embraced me. It’s just a pleasure to be here again.”

Barbosa has made a quick recovery from his torn ACL, which was suffered last February.