Leandro Barbosa and Danny Ainge deny report of Barbosa’s trade request

Leandro Barbosa has played well offensively for the Celtics this season when he’s gotten the chance.

The problem has been that after the first month of the season, the opportunity has all but vanished — and when that happens, reports and rumors can often begin to swirl.

That was the case with Barbosa this week, who supposedly told a foreign media outlet that he was trying to get out of his situation in Boston. Once asked about it by those who cover the team locally, however, the report was immediately shot down.

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge denied it, as well.

From Greg Payne of ESPNBoston:

“I won’t lie to you. I’ve tried to get out several times, but Danny Ainge doesn’t want to let me leave,” Barbosa told ESPN Brazil. “He is a guy that I’ve admired in basketball for many years. I was supposed to have gotten a good contract from the Boston Celtics, but it did not happen. He’s not going to let me leave this way.”

Barbosa was all smiles while taking shots on the the team’s practice court before Thursday’s afternoon session. When the Boston Herald showed Barbosa the ESPN Brazil story, he told the paper, “No, I want to play. I want to be here. That’s it.”

Ainge said Thursday he was unfamiliar with the ESPN Brazil report and while he has had discussions with Barbosa about his role with the team, there have been no trade demands.

Barbosa averaged over 14 minutes per game in November, and averaged 6.1 points on 43.6 percent shooting. In the two monts since, his time on the court has dropped to less than half that, and he didn’t appear at all in 10 of his team’s games over that stretch.

For now, it seems like Ainge and Babosa are on the same page. If his minutes don’t pick up over the next month, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Barbosa included in a deal near the trade deadline, even if to this point no formal request to be sent out of town has been made.