Leandro Barbosa will sign with a team in his native Brazil, but the contract will allow him to move to an NBA team if he can find one that’s interested, tweets Fábio Alexio of the Brazlian website Lancenet.com.br (hat tip to Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press). The 30-year-old Barbosa will play for Pinheiros after spending last season with the Celtics and Wizards.
Barbosa tore his left ACL shortly before the trade deadline last season, prompting the Celtics to throw him into the Jordan Crawford trade with the Wizards for salary matching purposes. Barbosa never played while on the Wizards roster, and a report in May indicated he was rehabbing at Boston’s facilities, several weeks before his contract was officially up. Still, the Celtics didn’t wind up signing him this summer, though Barbosa’s brother Artur Barbosa, who doubles as his agent, said the Mavs offered the combo guard a contract. The agent also said the Bulls and Rockets had shown interest.
The longtime Sun was an October addition for Boston in 2012, but he wound up playing a fairly significant role as backup point guard, averaging 5.2 points and 1.4 assists in 12.5 minutes per game. The “Brazilian Blur” might have lost a step, but his outside shooting remains a threat, as his three-point accuracy last season came close to his 39.1% career mark.