The Boston Celtics have been beset by injuries this season — and not to their older, veteran guys but rather to their young studs.
The latest is Leandro Barbosa — the Brazilian backup point guard tore his ACL in the third quarter Thursday night and he is done for the season, reports A. Sherrod Blakely at CSNNE.com. The Celtics have officially confirmed the news. This was expected news after the way he went down and the reaction in the locker room afterwards, but it is still a blow.
This is the third player lost to the Celtcs for the year since the season started. Rajon Rondo also injured his ACL and soon will have surgery but should be back around the start of training camp next season. Rookie forward Jared Sullinger also is lost for the season due to back surgery.
With Rondo and Barbosa out the Celtics will be looking for a backup PG but it will not be easy, reports Blakely.Arguably the best free agent point guard available right now is Jannero Pargo who was not re-signed after a second, 10-day contract with the Atlanta Hawks. Boston may look to its D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, to bring up a player like Andre Barrett or Shelvin Mack, both of whom have prior NBA experience.
Not only are there few quality point guards available either by free agency or via trade, but the C’s now have the challenge of trying to swing a deal with limited trading chips at their disposal.
One guy not being considered is Delonte West, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
For now the Celtics are down to 10 healthy bodies on the roster, and one of those is Fab Melo, who has played in just two games for Boston this season.
