Leandro Barbosa Confirms He Asked To Be Traded

This really doesn't come as a surprise, but Leandro confirmed to Dime Magazine what we probably knew but refused to acknowledge all along.

Dime Q&A: Leandro Barbosa on the Toronto trade and Team Brazil | Dime Magazine (dimemag.com) : Daily NBA News, NBA Trades, NBA Rumors, Basketball Videos, Sneakers

Dime: How are you feeling about the trade to the Raptors?

Leandro Barbosa: I’m happy. It’s a better situation for me, because I know that I will play more minutes than I used to in Phoenix. I’m a little bit sad because I loved Phoenix and I love the friends that I made in the organization. I will miss that. But I think everybody knows the NBA is a business, and we’re all involved in that business. Any day it can happen, and this time it happened to me.

Dime: Did you know there was a trade in the works?

LB: Yeah, I knew I was going to get traded. I asked for a trade after the season. I told Phoenix I wanted to play in a better situation for me, which I think I have in Toronto. I didn’t get that chance to play a lot in Phoenix, so I wanted to go to a different team. The first team that came was Toronto, and I have a good relationship with Bryan Colangelo, so everything worked out.

Dime: What is your role going to be with the Raptors?

LB: I don’t know what my role or what position I’m going to play yet, but I’m going to do the best I can and help my team win.

Best of luck, LB, in that new role you are so well-informed about.

He was ready for a change and the change came. Now, he'll find out if the snow is really greener in Toronto.