is Charles Barkley right?
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The NBA Hall of Famer and TNT analyst broke down what has ailed the team during halftime of Thursday's 115-99 loss in Miami that saw Marcus Morris and Jaylen Brown briefly scuffle on the bench.
"They're not going to win the way they're currently constructed," Barkley said, per Boston.com. "I don't know what type of team they are. I really don't. I don't think they know who their go-to guys are. … If the Celtics are going to win the Eastern Conference, I think they've got to make a trade."
The team's flaw, in Barkley's mind? The age-old problem of too many shooters and not enough shots. Marcus Smart might be the only role player on the roster.
"They're not making that transition where they're like, 'OK, I'm not going to score tonight, gotta get stops.' They don't have guys like that," Barkley said. "Jaylen Brown could be an All-Star. Jayson Tatum could be an All-Star. Kyrie [Irving]'s been an All-Star. Gordon Hayward's been an All-Star. Al Horford's been an All-Star, but you don't look at any of those guys and say, 'Well, they're a defensive stopper and they're content doing that.'
"I had a Mark West, who could go the whole game and not get a shot. Was going to affect the game and not complain and not pout. You have to have guys like that. You look at the Warriors. Draymond [Green] is a great defender. He's content to play great defense and rebound the ball. Last year, they had David West. They had JaVale McGee, Zaza Pachulia, because those [other] three guys are going to get all the shots. And with the Celtics, those guys, I told you coming into the season. Tatum and Brown wasn't going to say, 'Hey, Kyrie and Gordon, y'all take all the shots,' because they think they're better players than that."