Back in July, after a flurry of offseason moves decimated the Boston Celtics’ frontcourt, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens was asked if the bigs on the roster — at that point Neemias Queta, Luka Garza and Xavier Tillman Sr. — would be able to hold down the fort. 

Stevens didn’t even attempt to hide his uncertainty: “We’re gonna find out, right?”

Since then, Stevens, coach Joe Mazzulla and the rest of the Celtics’ decision-makers have learned a lot about their team. Few discoveries have been more important than Queta’s ability to stabilize the center position. 

Queta, the first Portuguese-born player to appear in an NBA game, was a second-round pick by the Sacramento Kings in 2021 and was signed by the Celtics in 2023. He played sparingly in his first four seasons, but the offseason departures of Al Horford, Kristaps Porziņģis and Luke Kornet opened up a spot in the starting lineup. Queta grabbed it and hasn’t looked back. 

Through 57 games, Queta is averaging 10.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, 0.9 steals and 1.3 blocks per game on 64.5% shooting. He’s putting up career highs across the board, and has already played more minutes, scored more points, grabbed more rebounds and blocked more shots this season than he had in his first four seasons combined. 

“He’s a force. I’ve known his game since college and playing against him in some draft workouts,” Garza said Monday after the Celtics’ win over the Milwaukee Bucks that was played without Queta, who was given the night off for rest — a clear sign of his newfound status. “Just knew the presence he was, but actually being teammates with him and going against him in practice and all that, you see how much skill he does have.”

Thanks in large part to Queta’s breakout campaign, which hit a new apex Sunday when he went off for a career-high 27 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers, the Celtics have not only avoided a gap year, they look like a real contender in the Eastern Conference. At 41-20, they sit in second place with Jayson Tatum’s return seemingly imminent. As of Wednesday morning, Caesars Sportsbook considers Boston the favorite in the Eastern Conference with +260 odds to reach the NBA Finals.

“It’s a credit to his work ethic and commitment, but also to me and our player development staff and you do have to take moments to be grateful and appreciative of the work that young players put in and where they are in the environment and system that we developed. And then the other side of that is how do we get better, what are we gonna do to get to where we want to get to?” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said Monday before their 27-point win over the Bucks.

“And I think that matches the mindset that Neemi has. He’s constantly looking for small ways to get better. We’re hard on him, but he’s even harder on himself, which I think is a strength of his.”

A different type of big man

Over the past decade, the Celtics have made it to at least the Eastern Conference finals six times, with floor-spacing bigs like Horford and Porzingis being vital to their 3-point-heavy attack. Queta is a much different type of big man. He’s never made a 3-pointer on nine career tries and 93.6% of his career shot attempts have come within 10 feet. 

But while Queta may not be a threat to knock down shots from the outside, he’s a significant threat at the rim thanks to his size (7-foot, 248 pounds), physicality and athleticism. Whether he’s rolling hard to the rim after a screen or hanging out in the dunker spot, opponents have to account for Queta in the paint, providing another way for the Celtics to collapse defenses. If teams decide to stick to the Celtics’ shooters, Queta finds himself open for easy baskets. 

“The more versatile we can be offensively, the better we’re gonna be,” Celtics wing Baylor Scheierman said. “His play style is a little different and I think that’s a good thing for us. It gives the defense a different look and allows different things for us offensively to happen.”

Queta has already thrown down 96 dunks this season, which is good for 12th in the league. His dunks per game rate is significantly higher than that of Horford and Porzingis and even Kornet, whose style is more similar to Queta’s. The last Celtics big man who could match Queta’s dunk rate was Robert Williams III, who played a key role on the 2022 Finals team. 

For all of Queta’s success at the rim — 74.3% shooting in the restricted area — he’s not one of the Celtics’ primary scorers. He’s fourth in scoring among players who have spent the entire season with the team, and sixth if you include Anfernee Simons and Nikola Vučević. 

Queta’s willingness to do the dirty work is a major part of his offensive value. He’s an elite screener and offensive rebounder, which helps free up the Celtics’ perimeter players and generates extra possessions for a Celtics team that is third in second-chance points per game (17.3). Queta is fifth in the league in screen assists per game (3.6), third in screen assist points (8.8) and tied for eighth in offensive rebounds (3.1). 

“Our coaches do a great job, especially in the film room, of pointing out how we can improve in that way,” Garza said of team’s emphasis on setting solid screens. “I think at the start of the year they put a lot of onus on the bigs to make those decisions screening-wise and create a lot of action and we take a lot of pride in that, making sure we help the offense flow.”

Rim protection is ‘everything’

Queta has also played a significant role in the Celtics’ surprise defensive success this season. Despite losing Jrue Holiday, Horford and Porzingis, and being without Tatum for the entire season, the Celtics have barely lost a step on that side of the ball. 

They are fifth in the league in defensive rating (111.6), seventh in defensive rebounding rate (71.7), third in opponent effective field goal percentage (52.1%) and sixth in opponent field goal percentage within five feet (62.4%). In addition, they’ve been markedly better with Queta on the floor. 

In 1,298 minutes with Queta, the Celtics have a 109.9 defensive rating. In 1,254 minutes without Queta, the Celtics have a 115 defensive rating. 

“Neemi has done a lot of good stuff for us. Protecting the rim has been at the top of that list,” Mazzulla said before the Celtics’ Feb. 24 win over the Phoenix Suns. 

Queta is averaging a career-high 1.3 blocks, which is tied for 15th in the league, and per databallr, opponents shoot 61.6% at the rim when Queta is on the floor (5% below the league average), compared to 68% when he sits (1.4% above the league average). 

Even after the whistle, Queta is not willing to give up easy looks. 

On occasion, Queta has even been too emphatic with his rim protection for Mazzulla’s liking. After Queta sent a shot into the crowd against the 76ers, Mazulla got on him for not catching it instead. 

“I do think that’s an area of growth,” Mazzulla said after the game. “Like, if you can catch it, catch it. Why give a team another possession? You just get the ball, and then we go in transition. So it’s definitely something he’s gotta better.”

Queta’s teammates, though, have no complaints, especially when the big man covers for their mistakes. 

“Joe’s gonna be Joe,” Scheierman joked Monday. “We try to protect the rim as a unit and Neemi’s a big part of that, just being at the rim when there’s breakdowns.”

Queta’s presence in the paint, Scheierman concluded, is “everything.”