The Suns have struck out in free agency so far – on Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap and everyone else.
But even without a clear use of its cap space lined up, Phoenix will pay Barbosa $500,000 to go away rather than guarantee his $4 million salary for next season – a choice that had to be decided by today.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
The Phoenix Suns are waiving guard Leandro Barbosa, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2017
That extra $3.5 million in cap space can probably be put to better use than on the 34-year-old Barbosa. The Suns have plenty of guards with Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, Brandon Knight and Tyler Ulis. Phoenix could use that newfound flexibility to sign a frontcourt shooter or toward a trade.
At this point, Barbosa would make more sense on the end of a winning team’s bench – for less money, the minimum or so.
