Barbosa deal with Celtics not official just yet

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BROOKLYN, NYThe soon-to-be newest Boston Celtic, Leandro Barbosa, is not officially on board just yet.

While the two sides have come to terms on a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum, the C's can not comment publicly on it until the contract is signed and he passes a physical.

But there's little doubt that the C's are looking forward to him joining them soon.

"I think he could definitely help us, another veteran," said Celtics forward Paul Pierce following Boston's shoot-around at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. "He's one of the better bench players in the league, to go along with our bench that's pretty well-rounded. This is probably, from what I'm hearing, this would make us the deepest bench I've ever played with."

Barbosa, 29, was the NBA's sixth man of the Year in 2007. He would be joining a Celtics roster that already features a player (Jason Terry, 2009) who won the same award.

He provides the Celtics with added backcourt depth, but his addition doesn't necessarily provides the C's with a true point guard. Rivers talked recently about how Avery Bradley (out until the middle of December following shoulder surgery) might return and play some at the point as he did at times last season.

"Avery's not a pure point guard, and nobody we're signing is either," said Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. "It's not that we need a backup anything. We're trying to get the best players we feel that are available, left. And if we can get them, we'll sign them."

With that in mind, the Celtics have addressed just about every potential hole in their lineup.

"On paper, we'll see," Rivers said. "Guys still have to perform. I always tell people, paper looks great. But performance is performance. That's far more important."

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