Charles Barkley Pushes Back On Major Celtics Narrative

Most people believe that the Boston Celtics decided to shed salary this season in order to get under the second apron of the luxury tax. Paying into the second apron for multiple seasons would trigger some pretty severe penalties.

The Celtics shipped out Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday to other teams, getting rid of their massive contracts. That seems to be the most logical reason for making those trades.

More news: Celtics' Jaylen Brown Offers Unfiltered Opinion On Lakers' Luka Doncic Deal

NBA analyst Charles Barkley has another idea for why the Celtics decided to make these changes to the team that aren't related to the salary cap.

Charles Barkley Claims Celtics Made Trades Because They Can't Compete for a Title

Barkley believes that the Celtics made those moves because they can't compete for a championship without Jayson Tatum, as he told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com.

“I don’t really think that’s it. I think they realized that without [Jayson Tatum] they wasn’t going to win the championship, so it’s best to break the team up sooner than later," Barkley said. “I don’t think it had anything to do with the second apron."

Barkley mentioned that the Celtics were in the second apron last year when they thought they could repeat as champions.

More news: Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Receives Bold Season Prediction From NBA Insider

"They had the apron last year, right? So I just think they realized that they’re going to take a step backwards," Barkley said. "JT’s out pretty much the whole year, so they’re not winning a championship next year. You’re like, let’s break it up a year early.”

The Celtics can still get under the luxury tax this season

Boston still has a chance to get under the luxury tax before the season starts if it makes some trades. If they were ever going to get under the luxury tax, this would be the year to do it.

Barkley doesn't seem to think that Jayson Tatum is going to return this season. Even if he does late in the year, there's a good chance that the Celtics won't be good enough to compete for a title.

This is going to be a developmental year for a lot of the young players. If they can get some much-needed development this year, that would be the best-case scenario for the Celtics.

Latest Celtics News

For more news and notes on the Boston Celtics, visit Boston Celtics on SI.