{"id":72430,"date":"2024-04-08T23:51:14","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T03:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=72430"},"modified":"2024-04-09T09:17:59","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T13:17:59","slug":"boston-celtics-sign-fan-favorite-to-fill-open-roster-spot-neemias-queta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/04\/08\/boston-celtics-sign-fan-favorite-to-fill-open-roster-spot-neemias-queta\/","title":{"rendered":"Boston Celtics Sign Fan Favorite to Fill Open Roster Spot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Boston Celtics have officially signed center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/q\/quetane01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-08_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Neemias Queta<\/a> to a standard contract. Queta was initially with the team on a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/09\/17\/the-boston-celtics-sign-neemias-queta-to-a-two-way-contract\/\" target=\"_self\">two-way contract<\/a> after signing in the offseason. Because of his contract status, the big man spent time with both the main roster and the Maine Celtics, Boston&#8217;s G League affiliate. Although Queta&#8217;s contract details are not known yet, Brian Robb of Mass Live is reporting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/celtics\/2024\/04\/celtics-reward-two-way-player-with-final-spot-on-15-man-roster.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the team signed Queta to a multi-year contract<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Details of the contract were not disclosed per team policy but a league source told MassLive that the agreement is for multiple years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>With Boston, Queta has played in 26 games. In those games, the former Sacramento Kings draft pick has averaged 4.6 points and 4.1 rebounds over 11.4 minutes per game. With Maine, however, Queta has been much more impressive. Despite only playing eight games with the G League team, Queta averaged 14.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game. Furthermore, the Portuguese native <a href=\"https:\/\/www.celticsblog.com\/2024\/4\/8\/24124011\/maine-celtics-g-league-finals-long-island-nets-jd-davison-neemias-queta-jordan-walsh-dj-steward\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recorded<\/a> 16 points on 8-for-9 shooting and 19 rebounds in Maine&#8217;s Eastern Conference Finals.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We have signed Neemias Queta \u2618\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kyA5iLLMjV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/kyA5iLLMjV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Boston Celtics (@celtics) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/celtics\/status\/1777487536254009412?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Boston Celtics Sign Fan Favorite to Fill Open Roster Spot<\/h2>\n<h3>Why Neemias Queta is a Good Signing for Boston<\/h3>\n<p>Although he has only played spotty minutes with Boston, Queta has showcased his potential. This was especially true when he recorded a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double off the bench against the Los Angeles Clippers in December. After the game, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/2023\/12\/23\/sports\/center-neemias-quetas-value-celtics-increases-with-every-performance\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Queta talked about his breakout performance<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThis is what I\u2019ve been pretty much waiting on,\u201d Queta said of his increased role. \u201cBeing ready for these type of moments. I had two years to do that. And whenever it is my turn, just be ready and everything works itself out. With time, the game\u2019s just been slowing down for me and I\u2019m getting more comfortable on the court.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He has his flaws, but <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/11\/28\/neemias-queta-celtics-rotation\/\" target=\"_self\">Queta<\/a> has proven he can become a relentless defender and reliable scorer in the paint. There were times when he looked a bit lost on defense. However, Queta has the energy and athleticism to become at least a solid defender in the league. Furthermore, he is only 24 years old and has looked better with each opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, it is important to note that backup centers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kornelu01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-08_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luke Kornet<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tillmxa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-04-08_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Xavier Tillman<\/a> are unrestricted free agents this offseason. Though it&#8217;s likely the team brings one, if not both, back, signing Queta to a multi-year deal is good insurance.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word on Neemias Queta<\/h3>\n<p>Though he&#8217;s eligible to play in the playoffs, it&#8217;s unlikely Queta will crack the team&#8217;s playoff rotation. However, with less than a week remaining on the season, it will be worth watching if Queta will get increased playing time before the postseason. With a 62-16 record, the Celtics have long clinched the best record in the NBA. For the last set of games, it may be smart to throw Queta out there as an audition of sorts. And for what it&#8217;s worth, it appears Queta has a fan in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsportsboston.com\/nba\/boston-celtics\/neemias-queta-becoming-a-physical-presence-doesnt-know-how-good-he-can-be\/580860\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">head coach Joe Mazzulla<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I just like seeing Neemy [Queta] be physical,&#8221; Mazzulla added of last season&#8217;s G-League MVP runner-up. &#8220;The presence that he&#8217;s playing with on the floor &#8212; he&#8217;s one of those kids, he doesn&#8217;t understand how good he can be.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Boston Celtics have officially signed center Neemias Queta to a standard contract. Queta was initially with the team on a two-way contract after signing in the offseason. Because of his contract status, the big man spent time with both the main roster and the Maine Celtics, Boston&#8217;s G League affiliate. Although Queta&#8217;s contract details [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4631,"featured_media":72436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1608,2,62,3],"tags":[1776,4108,1151],"class_list":["post-72430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celtics","category-basketball","category-featured","category-nba","category-news","tag-luke-kornet","tag-neemias-queta","tag-xavier-tillman"],"modified_by":"Elie Deglaoui","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}