Charles Barkley didn’t mention the Celtics as one of the NBA’s best teams
Barkley also explained why "you saw it coming" with the Celtics' trade of Isaiah Thomas.
Despite possessing one of the NBA’s best four records, the Celtics are not seen by Charles Barkley as one of the league’s top four teams.
The Hall of Famer who is now a TV analyst recently explained his thoughts on the league’s current power structure. As Barkley sees it, the Raptors and Cavaliers are the Eastern Conference’s best teams. The Celtics, who are 40-19 on the season, were not mentioned.
“It’s a four-team race right now,” Barkley told The Boston Globe. “I think Toronto and Cleveland are the two best teams in the East. And I think in the West, it’s the Rockets and the Warriors. With what the Rockets have done, they could be threats, and the Cavs are right there in that conversation because they got LeBron [James], who can dominate four out of seven games.”
Barkley was also asked about former Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas. He explained how Thomas’ demands to “back up the Brinks truck” for his next contract made the decision to trade him inevitable.
“I think Isaiah is a terrific kid, a very good player, but . . . you saw it coming,” said Barkley. “You knew the Celtics weren’t going to give him $200 million and you knew the Cavs weren’t going to give him $200 million. So anybody who knows anything about basketball was going to see that this [Cavs] team was going to end badly.”
When asked if a team would give Thomas such a large contract, Barkley flatly dismissed it as a possibility.
“Nobody,” Barkley said. “Nobody.”
