The Indiana Pacers added a little scoring pop to the team’s roster on Thursday by acquiring Leandro Barbosa from the Toronto Raptors, in exchange for a second round draft pick.
Yahoo! Sports reported the deal initially, which has since been confirmed by several others.
Barbosa has averaged 12.2 points in 22.3 minutes per game this season in Toronto, and should help the Pacers offensively, though likely only for the remainder of this season.
Barbosa is in the final year of a contract that pays him $7.6 million. The move is no-risk, high-reward for the Pacers, since they don’t lose any talent in the deal because they were able to absorb Barbosa’s salary into their existing cap space. At the end of the year, if they don’t like what Barbosa gave them or they aren’t interested in paying his market value for a new contract, they can simply let him walk and get that salary cap space right back.
Indiana currently sits fifth in the Eastern Conference standings, but is just 6-4 in its last 10 games.
On Toronto’s side, the team is its usual dismal self, and has a share of the fourth-worst record in the league at 14-29. It makes sense to shed Barbosa’s deal and acquire a pick that may help them rebuild in the future. Looks like the Raptors will also get Anthony Carter, according to SI.com’s Sam Amick. Carter was likely to be cut by the Pacers.