Former USU center’s breakout season is reshaping Boston’s title hopes

BOSTON, Massachusetts – Neemias Queta, the first Portuguese-born player in NBA history, has emerged as one of the league’s most unexpected bright spots for the playoff-bound Boston Celtics.

Many expected Boston to regress following the torn Achilles tendon Jayson Tatum suffered in May 2025. Instead, Queta’s improbable rise has allowed Boston to surge.

RELATED: Neemias Queta Wins NBA Championship With Boston Celtics

JAYSON TATUM IS BACK WITH AN ASSIST TO NEEMIAS QUETA! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/8TcOGCuPY5

— NBA Base (@TheNBABase) March 7, 2026

Once viewed as an occasional spot starter, the 7’0”, 248‑pound rim protector has transformed his role entirely.

Instead of serving as a temporary fill‑in, Queta has solidified himself as a true starter—providing the defensive presence and vertical spacing Boston needs as it pushes toward another deep postseason run.

LeBron James, bem-vindo à penitenciária de Neemias Queta.pic.twitter.com/YZxtViVS0X

— B24 Dunk (@B24Dunk) February 23, 2026

Paired with Jaylen Brown, who is playing at an MVP level, along with Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, and the remarkable ten‑month comeback of Tatum, Queta adds an interior element the Celtics previously lacked.

Queta’s Stunning Leap Positions Boston as a Legitimate Championship Threat

A 26-year-old making a leap is nothing new in the NBA, but the degree of Queta’s ascension is.

The former second-round pick entered the year with only six career starts and had never averaged more than 14 minutes a night. In two playoff runs with Boston, he averaged two points across seven appearances.

He’s become a completely different player this year.

Neemias Queta mid-season block reel https://t.co/TVm4PHe4k6 pic.twitter.com/uagau9x8OW

— 𝒃🏀 (@HiddenNBA) February 17, 2026

Queta is averaging 25 minutes, 9.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, and is shooting a blistering 64 percent from the field. His newfound consistency has allowed him to be a trusted presence on both ends of the floor.

Teammates have noticed his improvement.

“I’m very pleased to see his progression,” All-Star Jaylen Brown said after Queta erupted for a career-high 27 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and blocked three shots in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers. “He’s been working hard all season long… He’s done a good job this year. I think he has another level that he can tap into, and I feel like he’s starting to tap into that.”

Even after Boston added former All‑Star center Nikola Vučević in a trade with the Chicago Bulls, Queta’s continued excellence has kept him in Joe Mazzulla’s starting lineup—an outcome few could have predicted at the start of the year.

About Neemias Queta

Queta has traveled a long road to becoming an NBA regular. When the 24-year-old center signed with Utah State in 2018, he had no other college offers to play basketball.

Queta was named Mountain West All-Defense all three years with the Aggies while setting multiple school records along the way. The seven-footer was named MW Freshman of the Year and MW Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 after setting the program’s single-season record for blocked shots with 84.

As a sophomore, Queta averaged 13 points, 7.8 boards, and 1.7 blocks while making MW All-Defense and Second-Team All-MW for the second time.

Mazzulla foi questionado por um jornalista português sobre Neemias Queta… e respondeu perguntando se também era adepto do Benfica. pic.twitter.com/gYnxUbQup3

— B24 Dunk (@B24Dunk) March 7, 2026

In his junior and final season at Utah State, Queta set the school record for blocks in a season (97) and blocks per game (3.3) while scoring 14.9 points and hitting 55.9 percent of his field goal attempts. He finished the season with his only First-Team All-MW selection and his second MW DPOY award. Nationally, Queta was recognized as the USBWA District VIII Player of the Year, the Bleacher Report National Defensive Player of the Year, and was one of four finalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.

The Sacramento Kings selected Queta with the 39th pick in the 2021 NBA draft. He signed a two-way contract with the Kings and made his NBA debut on December 17 of that year. He became the first Portuguese player to score points in an NBA game, finishing with 11 points against Cleveland on January 11, 2022.

Queta signed with Sacramento in 2023 but was waived a month later.

In September 2023, the former Aggie signed a two-way deal with the Celtics and has been with the franchise since.

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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball coverage here.