NBA Trade Deadline: Does Leandro Barbosa Deal Help or Hurt Pacers?

There have been a few deadline deals today with one of the most prominent being wingman Leandro Barbosa sent to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for a future second-round selection.

Before the trade, the Pacers had about $14 million in cap space so, needless to say, they had some flexibility heading into Thursday's trade deadline.

Barbosa's current $7.6 million deal expires at the end of the season, so if he fails to produce, the Pacers could just simply decide not to retain him. But if he performs well, we could see Barbosa in a Pacers uniform next season.

The front office decided to use up over half of their cap space in exchange for Barbosa, a former Sixth Man of the Year Award winner. Barbosa has shown flashes of brilliance since arriving in the NBA in 2003, but he has never been a prototypical starter.

He has thrived mostly coming off of the bench and that's exactly what he will do in Indiana.

The Pacers currently hold a 25-16 record, good enough for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. They are just 1.5 games out of the third-place Orlando Magic, who earlier announced that Dwight Howard will remain with the team.

With the acquisition of Barbosa, the Pacers are hoping that he can come in and immediately contribute.

A natural shooting guard, Barbosa should help relieve pressure off of the backcourt. Guard George Hill is currently healing a sore shoulder. Although he's played in their most recent games, Hill still needs some time to heal.

However, Hill has not been doing that as well as expected in his first full season in Indiana. The former IUPUI star is currently averaging just 9.7 points per game, while playing in a little over 24 minutes per contest. His stats are down from last season when he played for San Antonio but regardless, he has still been a solid component to the team's success.

The knock on Hill is that he is a combo guard that is more suited for a role at shooting guard. He's not really a prototypical point guard, but with the addition of Barbosa, Hill would be forced to play the majority of his minutes at back-up point guard behind Darren Collison.

Their main two-guard, Paul George, has had a stellar sophomore campaign while averaging 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. The high-flying George has been quite the surprise this season and is definitely a key to the Pacers' future.

He has solid potential and looks to eventually form a promising combination with teammates Danny Granger, Darren Collison and Roy Hibbert. The Pacers definitely have a solid future, but it is unclear as to whether Barbosa fits into those plans or not.

A.J. Price, who has been used as a combo guard, is a decent player, but we don't know if he can ever become one of those players that can contribute on a night-to-night basis, while playing 20 minutes per night.

There's no doubt that Price has some potential, but I can't really see him becoming an intricate part in the Pacers' future plans.

Their other backcourt member, Lance Stephenson, has seen somewhat limited action this season. He's played in 35 contest this season, but has turned that into about eleven minutes per night. The arrival of Barbosa does not help his cause and we will likely see a slight, perhaps substantial, decrease in Stephenson's minutes. A trip to the NBA Developmental League may be in his future.

So with the arrival of Barbosa, the team's backcourt now looks like this: Darren Collison, Paul George, A.J. Price, Lance Stephenson and George Hill. Dahntay Jones could also fall into that category, but he also splits time at small forward.

Needless to say, the Pacers needed to add some depth in the backcourt and they did that with the addition of Barbosa.

I firmly believe that the acquisition of Barbosa will benefit the Pacers for the rest of the season. The Brazilian is currently averaging 12.2 points per game in 22.5 minutes per contest. The main knock on Barbosa is that he can be considered one-dimensional, as he is mainly just a shooter—he is currently averaging just 1.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists to go along with his points output.

Despite being a player that can "just score," Barbosa will help the Pacers for the remainder of the season. He'll likely be the primary back-up to Paul George and could eventually even see himself in the starting rotation at some point. Stephenson, although he seldom plays, will likely see his minutes significantly decrease with the addition of Barbosa.

I like the deal for the Pacers. They were able to use a little over half of their cap space on a player that can come in and immediately contribute. And if he does not become the player they're hoping for, they can simply choose not to retain him at the conclusion of the season, thanks to his expiring contract.

The addition of Barbosa definitely helps the Pacers, as they make a push to the postseason.

For the Raptors, they are able to rid themselves of a humongous contract, which gives them more financial flexibility to go after Wilson Chandler. There was no doubt that Barbosa was not in the team's future plans and his departure seemed more imminent by the day.

The Raptors could also be considered winners in this deal, especially if they land Chandler because of the deal today. But I believe that they will miss Barbosa, as he packs his bags for Indiana. The nine-year pro will do some good things for Indiana for the rest of the campaign.