Houston Rockets: Should The Team Trade For Leandro Barbosa?

You know what I’m talking about Houston Rockets fans, it’s one of Daryl Morey’s favorite times of the year.

Yep, you guessed it, the NBA’s oft-ballyhooed trade deadline.

As we know, for the most part, rarely something interesting happens until right up until the deadline time.

But what’s the deadline for this season?

For the 2016-17 season, the NBA trade deadline will be Thursday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. CST.

That’s a lot of time between now/then and I’m sure there will be some happenings going on.

Now keep in mind that it may be slightly muted this season because of the ridiculous amount of movement that occurred in free agency this past summer.

This was because of the NBA’s unwavering popularity and their escalating salary cap.

A lot of players signed long-term deals making them harder to move but there are some how are still on palatable contracts that were signed before the league received their huge windfall of cash.

Although not yet, there needs to be a player that should be connected with the Houston Rockets.

Who am I talking about?

I’m talking about Leandro Barbosa.

I recall Barbosa being a integral part of the Phoenix Suns some time for many seasons but as of late, he’s bounced around to the Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors and back to the Suns.

This is his third tour of duty with the Suns over his 13 year career and he may not have many more stops to go.

But at least those stops are being made and it shows that he’s still needed in today’s NBA.

And going back to Saturday night’s 133-102 statement win — or what I’d like to prefer as the Houston Rockets mid-season televised practice — I kept peering at Barbosa and thinking about how nicely he’d fit in our back court.

I’m sure he wants to be with a winning team again as the Houston Rockets have elevated to a 40-17 record, good for third in the West while the Suns are at the bottom of barrel of the conference with a 17-38 record.

The Suns are in rebuilding mode with a few key pieces such as Devin Booker so I’m sure they’d be looking for some young talent to fill their roster as they begin their ascent back up again.

Even at Barbosa’s age, he seemed to be deft at pushing the ball up the court, moving without it as well.

His defense isn’t what it used to be but I do still see flashes of brilliance from yesteryear.

Just think how effective he’d be, giving James Harden and Patrick Beverley a rest while he takes over.

With Eric Gordon‘s injuries becoming of some concern, we need another guard that’s going to provide additional depth for this roster.

As I’ve said before, Tyler Ennis has the potential to be a good ballplayer but he’s just not quite there in terms of development by adding him to the regular rotation.

But Barbosa is a tried-and-true tested Warrior — in the literal sense — just two seasons removed from doing his part to help Golden State win the chip.

I can imagine him drive to bucket with ease and effectively run the pick-and-roll.

He still can stroke it so he can score at will if need be as well.

Besides, he has played for Mike D’Antoni, he knows the system and would be a nice fit.

Next: Tension Between Patrick Beverley And Dwight Howard?

But how much is he going to cost?

Barbosa is currently on a two-year, $8 million deal with $500K guaranteed for this season to which I’m sure he’ll receive with him being in the rotation for the Suns.

This would be an easy trade to make — if the Suns accept — and I’d trade K.J. McDaniels plus send some cash to make up difference to land player that will certainly add to the roster.

I’d certainly rather add Corey Brewer but his money doesn’t make sense in my proposed deal, so he stays.

This move doesn’t bust up the core and it provides the badly-needed depth at such a critical position as this team hits the home stretch for the playoffs.

We’ll have to see but I’m hoping for the best.

Barbosa, 34, is averaging 5.7 points, 1.2 assists while shooting 44.3 percent from the field, 42.2 percent from three and 83.3 percent at the charity stripe through 51 games this season.

Go Rockets.

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