The Golden State Warriors have Stephen Curry starting at the point guard spot, the best shooter in the game today and a guy with underrated handles and vision. They leaned too heavily on him last season so for depth they brought in a quality backup in Shaun Livingston.
Apparently not satisfied and looking to add a little more depth at the point guard spot, the Warriors are about to reach a deal with speedy Brazilian Leandro Barbosa, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.
At the league minimum this is a decent signing (we don’t know what the guarantee situation here is if the Warriors want to part ways).
Warriors fans, if you want to see what you’re getting watch Brazil at the World Cup, where Barbosa plays a big role in their guard rotation. That’s a pretty good Brazilian team that has a chance to medal (but that the USA beat by 17 in a game where the Americans didn’t play that well).
Near the end of last season Barbosa had found a comfort zone as part of a pretty good bench unit in Phoenix (until he broke his hand anyway). Barbosa is very quick and uses that to get to the rim (in transition or the half court) where he knows how to finish. He can hit a few midrange pull ups but generally isn’t much of a shooter.
He’s limited in how he’s going to help an NBA team other than provide solid veteran depth at the point guard spot. He’s a guy you can give 12-15 minutes to when needed and he’ll play well enough.
Miami had been in the running but moved on and signed Shannon Brown instead.
