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Ranking the Warriors Assets- Countdown to #1 (a series). Part 5: Buh-Bye Barbosa (and the 5th cut)



First of all, thank you for participating.

The idea of this series is to alleviate massive amounts of boredom and to encourage some healthy Warriors-related basketball discussions by debating the merits of each one of the Warriors current assets, eliminating one asset per poll, from worst to first. Only guaranteed contracts and our 2015 first round pick are included.

Our first installment said goodbye to Nemanja Nedovic. His countryman, Ognjen Kuzmic, was next to go. And then we bid adieu to the Gangster of Love, Marreese Speights. Today, we reflect on our most recent acquisition (and next asset cut), Leandro Barbosa.

The Brazilian Blur was signed to a partially guaranteed contract a few weeks ago, which will pay him the veteran's minimum of 1.4 million if he sticks on the roster throughout the season. That may be a tall order for the diminutive Barbosa, who hasn't played 70 games in a season since the 2008-09 campaign. Last season, he played a mere 20 games for the Phoenix Suns, and his last five season totals were (in order) 44, 58, 64, 41, and 20 games played.

To make matters worse, the 6'3" guard scored only 7.5 ppg last season, on a depressing .506 TS%. His 20% USG rate meant that he still managed 14.7 per 36, and his 11.4 TOV% isn't bad for a player with his usage, but you'd like to see better efficiency numbers from him than the .512/.509/.506 we've seen from Leandrinho (his nickname in his home country) the last three seasons, especially if he's going to play the 18.4 mpg he did last season.

A career .390 3 point shooter, he only managed to hit on 28% of his tries from deep last season, and hasn't matched his career numbers for long range efficiency since the 2007-08 season. His contributions apart from scoring haven't been very impressive, with career averages of 2.3 APG and 2.2 RPG, and he's never been one to hang his hat on the defensive end of the court either.

Despite the terrible production, the NBA's 2007 Sixth Man of the Year was our first cut to receive less than 50% of the vote. Perhaps his reputation as a scorer, his strong showing in the FIBA tournament, or speculation that Livingston may not be 100% to start the season have elevated the value of the recently signed asset. Barbosa received 71 of 160 total votes, or 44%. Other assets receiving votes for least valuable asset were: the 2015 first round draft pick (23), Brandon Rush (19), Festus Ezeli (16), David Lee (11), Harrison Barnes (10), Shaun Livingston (5), Stephen Curry (2), Klay Thompson (1), Andre Iguodala (1), and Draymond Green (1).

And that brings us to the next selection! Remember to consider skill, contract, injuries, need, and anything else you find valid in your reasoning. Also keep in mind that your vote is for the LEAST valuable asset TO THE WARRIORS. This time, please voice the reason for your opinion in the comment thread following your vote, so that we can engage in a healthy debate. I certainly would love to read the reasoning behind the votes.Now that we're down to 10 players and a first round pick, I expect the voting to get closer and the discussions to get more interesting.

And thanks again for participating.

This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!