Barbosa Leaving? Nope, he is staying.

[white men can't jump]

I'll miss the randomness of his game if he goes. Seems like you never know where the ball is going to go when it's in his hands. That being said, no real place for him long term especially if we draft a PG or a wing. On the plus side, it lets Bayless stay if BC can't or doesn't want to move him.

[Zigus]

I hope he opts in and we give him an extension. he's the only player on this team that knows how to be good. we need hes veteran stability and work ethic. Good defense leads to turnovrs and fast breaks. and we have a 1 man fast break.

[ihatehaters]

he's the only player on this team that knows how to be good.

Word.

[Darien]

I hope he signs and we move him. That is what shouldve happened at trade deadline last year, but BC dragged his knuckles and now we want to buy another pick but got nothing to show for it.

[charlz]

The Raptors' Leandro Barbosa was all smiles on Wednesday playing soccer in New York at former teammate Steve Nash's charity soccer event.

But back in Toronto, his brother, trainer and confidante Artur is immersed in the reality that Leandro has a difficult decision to make. Barbosa has about a week to decide whether to opt out of his $7 million-plus deal with the Raptors -- possibly to become the highest-paid basketball player in Brazil.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...erseas-options

to be honest I would love it if he opted out.
REASONS I DONT THINK HE IS A GOOD FIT IN TORONTO:
1) lousy disinterested defender
2) way too banged up every season
3) older than core group / game on decline
4) if you are stuck with Kleiza and Calderon and you do draft a PG he will be collecting dust anyhow if you want to develop younger players.
5) inconsistent from long range
6) if you have 3 PG's would rather see Bayless getting minutes @ 2 spot

[WJF]

Well Charlz this shows me you did not even watch Barbosa play for Toronto this past season, you may have watched Raptor games, but you were not watching players.

Barbosa was a pleasant surprise on defense for us, while he is not a lock down guy his effort and results were pretty good, I would say he did a better job defending the 2 than Derozan.

Hes he has been banged up, but it is not like he does not play through some of the minor stuff.
He is an almost 40% career 3 point shooter and you call him inconsistent....
If we have 3 point guards one of Jose or Bayless are gone before seasons end.
An entire team can't be made up of early 20's players, you need a vet or 2.

While there are reasons to not want him back, the ones you mention are pretty silly.

[Dr Hannibal Lecter]

For that kinda money...well u could get shane battier or tayshaun prince.
I hope he opt's out..raptors have more money,think about it.

U have line up of...

Brandon Knight....plzzzzzzz let him drop
Demar Derozan...Break out year...Allstar
Tayshaun Prince...Bryan Colangelo always wanted him...he be perfect.
Ed Davis...Block Party
Tyson Chandler...Won a ring...money is the key...ohh yeah Casey helps 2...

P.S

Notice I didn't put Bargnani or Calderon in the mix...I hope the god there gone,u really think these guys really care about defense...LOL.
We watched them for soooooo long..enough,Good Bye!!!

[MangoKid]

I'm gonna merge this with the other Barbosa thread, k, guys?

[MangoKid]

LOL. I got beaten to the punch.

[Apollo]

You have to be fast in this neighborhood. I'm merging threads at Kemba Walker speed.

[MangoKid]

For that kinda money...well u could get shane battier or tayshaun prince.
I hope he opt's out..raptors have more money,think about it.

U have line up of...

Brandon Knight....plzzzzzzz let him drop
Demar Derozan...Break out year...Allstar
Tayshaun Prince...Bryan Colangelo always wanted him...he be perfect.
Ed Davis...Block Party
Tyson Chandler...Won a ring...money is the key...ohh yeah Casey helps 2...

P.S

Notice I didn't put Bargnani or Calderon in the mix...I hope the god there gone,u really think these guys really care about defense...LOL.
We watched them for soooooo long..enough,Good Bye!!!

Why does Prince sign here? He'd have to get crazy money to sign here. Chandler is going to get insane dollars as well.

[Papa Burgundy]

I think the idea of paying him $4M a year is undervaluing him as a player ... he is one of the few players in the league who truly impacts the outcome of a game off the bench with his scoring. He could easily be our 3rd leading scorer off the bench next year.

-If it's a 'business decision' by his agent, then go to the league's where there is an actual season to be paid to play in next year!

If we end up keeping Jose as the veteran PG off the bench, then Blur is a perfect compliment to play with him ... distributor and scorer ... add Amir, and we're looking at a highly skilled bench mob.

[GameBreaker]

to be honest I would love it if he opted out.
REASONS I DONT THINK HE IS A GOOD FIT IN TORONTO:
1) lousy disinterested defender
2) way too banged up every season
3) older than core group / game on decline
4) if you are stuck with Kleiza and Calderon and you do draft a PG he will be collecting dust anyhow if you want to develop younger players.
5) inconsistent from long range
6) if you have 3 PG's would rather see Bayless getting minutes @ 2 spot

You might need to actually turn ON your TV when the Raps games are on. Not sure you were watching the games. Jus sayin'.

[GameBreaker]

Well Charlz this shows me you did not even watch Barbosa play for Toronto this past season, you may have watched Raptor games, but you were not watching players.

Barbosa was a pleasant surprise on defense for us, while he is not a lock down guy his effort and results were pretty good, I would say he did a better job defending the 2 than Derozan.

Hes he has been banged up, but it is not like he does not play through some of the minor stuff.
He is an almost 40% career 3 point shooter and you call him inconsistent....
If we have 3 point guards one of Jose or Bayless are gone before seasons end.
An entire team can't be made up of early 20's players, you need a vet or 2.

While there are reasons to not want him back, the ones you mention are pretty silly.

Co-sign.

[Matt52]

Barbosa's brother is the one with all these quotes coming out regarding Europe and Brazil. Barbosa's brother is also his agent. This quote does not sound like a guy planning on walking away from $7M:

Raptors guard Leandro Barbosa(notes) was on his way to meet Parker at a local club Tuesday night when he was told about his team’s trade conversations with the Spurs. Barbosa, who believes the Raptors talked with the Spurs, didn’t end up meeting Parker, but planned to have dinner with him on Wednesday.

“I told him [via text message], ‘Are you going to play with me?’ ” Barbosa said. “He said, ‘Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.’

“I would love to play with him. You never know what can happen in the NBA. I guess we got to wait and see what’s up.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu...a_draft_062211

[ceez]

He used his player option, he's staying.

Trade bait!

[G-locity]

Im not sure why he waited this long but he did picked up his option and will be a raptor next season. The question is, will he be traded? If BC trades him, we better get someone that is somewhat close if not better statwise to back demar up at the 2 spot.

[Maleko]

...or get a couple of bench assets...

I doubt Colangelo trades him since Barbosa is 'one of his favourite players', but that goes out the window at trade deadline time. That said he would be great in Denver, Houston, Orlando, Chicago, NY, or Clippers (though they need a SF first). Not sure what we would want back though from most of them. I would like Mosgov (Denver), CLee (Houston) out of those listed.

[Maleko]

He used his player option, he's staying.

Trade bait!

Hopefully. I like him when he is here, but I like what he brings to the table on the trade front as well (if not more).

[Matt52]

Looks like he has picked up his option - bittersweetly.

t appears Leandro Barbosa will not be heading back to Brazil after all.

Toronto Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo told QMI Agency Saturday afternoon that Barbosa has picked up his $7.6 million U.S. player option for the 2011-2012 season. Barbosa beat a midnight deadline to make a call.

There had been speculation Barbosa would play in his native Brazil since a looming lockout threatens to wipe out the NBA season.

This would have given the Raptors a huge boost in cap space.

Both sides have also expressed interest in renegotiating Barbosa's contract into a longer deal.

http://www.lfpress.com/sports/others.../18334586.html