They're two totally different players. Barbosa is good on offense and Pietrus is good on defense.
Pietrus was invaluable when he got those offensive rebounds in game 4 vs Miami and then the daggers in game 5.
Let's wait to see if Barbosa can give us something like that in the playoffs.
Pietrus also came up empty on offense pretty often in the playoffs. His defense was also not what it used to be before his knee issues.
Those are two big reasons we didn't pay to get him back, and no other teams were knocking the door down to grab him either.
But how about Barbosa for next year/beyond?
I think what he does in the 2nd half of this year and the playoffs will determine his next contract. If he looks healthy enough and comes up with some big contributions, some team will throw money at him and he will leave. If not, we could possibly re-sign him for cheap and keep him as a backup, but we may not want to. I think unlike Pietrus, Barbosa is fully healthy this year.