Leandro Barbosa Said He Wanted a Trade Then Denied it

In an interview with a radio station in Brazil, Boston Celtics guard Leandro Barbosa said that he asked the team to move him. When asked about it by reporters in Boston, Barbosa and GM Danny Ainge said there was no trade request. Per the Boston Herald: “In a translation of the story, Barbosa is quoted as saying, ‘I will not lie to you. I tried to get out several times, but Danny Ainge does not want to let me go.’ Shown both the translation and the actual story yesterday, Barbosa said the remarks are not his. ‘It never came out of my mouth like that,’ he said. Asked bluntly if he is trying to get the Celtics to trade him, Barbosa said, ‘No, I want to play. I want to be here. That’s it.’ The 6-foot-3 guard has been playing sparingly of late, though Doc Rivers did lament after Wednesday’s loss to New Orleans that he didn’t use him earlier in the game, because the club was in need of his energy. […] ‘I knew it was going to be like this when I came here,’ he said, echoing comments he made when he signed during the middle of training camp. Ainge flatly denied Barbosa has asked to be dealt. ‘I’ve never had any conversation like that with Leandro,’ said the Celts’ boss. ‘I have no idea where that came from, but it’s just not true. We like Leandro very much, and I’m sure he’s going to help us a lot before this season is over.'”