Leandro Barbosa Reportedly to Sign with Suns: Contract Details and Reaction
In the last two years, Leandro Barbosa won an NBA championship, reached the NBA Finals twice and helped the Golden State Warriors set the all-time record with 73 wins in a regular season. He has a new contract to show for it.
The Phoenix Suns and Barbosa agreed to terms on Wednesday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who added it's a two-year deal worth $8 million.
ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne also reported the terms of the agreement.
Barbosa is fresh off proving his worth as a critical presence off the bench in Golden State’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals. He scored in double figures in three of the seven contests and averaged 8.2 points per night behind 64.3 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent shooting from three-point range.
Barbosa anchored the second unit alongside Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston and demonstrated the ability to score from the outside and attack the basket when needed.
The veteran entered the league as a first-round pick in 2003 and has played for the Suns, Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics and Warriors.
He averaged more than 13 points per game in four straight seasons for the Suns from 2005-06 to 2008-09, including the 18.1 per night he poured in during the 2006-07 campaign on his way to the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award. He has been a fairly consistent shooter from three-point range for much of his career as well:
| 2003-04 | Phoenix Suns | 7.9 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 44.7 | 39.5 |
| 2004-05 | Phoenix Suns | 7.0 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 47.5 | 36.7 |
| 2005-06 | Phoenix Suns | 13.1 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 48.1 | 44.4 |
| 2006-07 | Phoenix Suns | 18.1 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 47.6 | 43.4 |
| 2007-08 | Phoenix Suns | 15.6 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 46.2 | 38.9 |
| 2008-09 | Phoenix Suns | 14.2 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 48.2 | 37.5 |
| 2009-10 | Phoenix Suns | 9.5 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 42.5 | 32.4 |
| 2010-11 | Toronto Raptors | 13.3 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 45 | 33.8 |
| 2011-12 | Toronto Raptors/Indiana Pacers | 11.1 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 42.5 | 38.2 |
| 2012-13 | Boston Celtics | 5.2 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 43 | 38.3 |
| 2013-14 | Phoenix Suns | 7.5 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 42.7 | 28 |
| 2014-15 | Golden State Warriors | 7.1 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 47.4 | 38.4 |
| 2015-16 | Golden State Warriors | 6.4 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 46.2 | 35.5 |
The 33-year-old Barbosa is no longer the same producer he was in his prime, but he should still provide a solid secondary scoring option off the bench for his new team. He played only 15.9 minutes per night in 2015-16 but managed to score 6.4 points in that limited action. The scoring total could increase now that he is no longer part of Golden State’s deep rotation that didn’t utilize him as a primary facilitator.
Although the offense has always been solid for Barbosa, it is fair to ask questions about his defense as he enters the next stage of his career. That is especially the case after opponents shot 12.7 percent better from the field and 23.6 percent better from three-point range than their normal averages when he guarded them during the playoffs, per NBA.com.
Barbosa doesn’t have the same lateral quickness as he did on the Suns to keep up with the league’s best ball-handlers, although he may not have to worry about that as much if his new team largely uses him against the opposing secondary units.
The Suns are not going to get the same Barbosa who was an offensive force and Sixth Man of the Year in his prime, but Phoenix still added an experienced veteran and proven winner. Barbosa has 119 career playoff games on his resume and knows what it's like to perform on a grand stage after reaching the Finals the last two seasons.
Phoenix hopes he makes it to a third straight in 2016-17.
