Report: Boston Signs Leandro Barbosa

Rajon Rondo doesn’t necessarily need a backup. Not only is he poised for his greatest season yet, especially now that he’s dropped his body armor and is openingly having more fun (I almost spit out my drink after seeing him smile during Boston’s one-point loss to Brooklyn last night), but he’s also played at least 36 minutes a night in each of the last three years. Then when you throw in the addition of Jason Terry, who had an assist rate of 22.47 in Dallas last year (actually his worst passing numbers since 2009), which was better than a number of “decent” backup guards (Mo Williams, Derek Fisher, Gary Neal and just percentage points behind Lou Williams), you can see why some might find this move superfluous.

But still, Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting Boston has signed 29-year-old Leandro Barbosa to a one-year deal. Barbosa is known as a deep threat who still has some jets left in his legs, even though he shot under 40 percent in 22 games with Indiana last year, and was simply awful during the postseason (37 percent from the floor, 15 percent from deep). Will he play both guard spots? Of course. But will he make a difference off the bench? I doubt it. As I previously noted, Terry is enough as a backup point guard. He’s playing the role adequately so far in this preseason, and also played as a de-facto point at times throughout the years with Dallas. Should Barbosa take over his role as the backup lead guard? No. He hasn’t approached Terry’s assist numbers in any season in the last five years, and last year, which he spent between Toronto and Indiana, he finished with nearly the same number of assists (96) as turnovers (94).

Basically, at this point in his career, Barbosa is a small shooting guard who’s struggled with his jumper in each of the last three years… and three years is too long a period for those numbers to be flukey.

Realistically though, why should anyone in Boston complain? They already have a planned guard rotation involving Rondo, Courtney Lee, Terry AND hopefully, a healthy Avery Bradley. Barbosa is simply cheap insurance at the end of that suddenly very long bench.

Is this a good move?

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