The Boston Celtics confirmed the continuity of Portuguese Neemias Queta in the team that became champion of the North American Basketball League (NBA) for the 18th time.
Last weekend, the North American specialized press had already reported that the Portuguese center had signed a multi-year contract with the Celtics, which has now been confirmed by the franchise, announcing it as a return, after the player had been considered ‘free’.
“We are happy that ‘Neemi’ chose to come back and sign for the Celtics”, said former coach and now president of the Celtics, Brad Stevens, saying he was “enthusiastic about his impact last season, anticipating better days in the future”.
The Celtics had the option to automatically renew the Portuguese’s contract for 2024/25, but they did not exercise that option, in order to extend its duration.
And that’s not all. According to the portal “Borracha Laranja”, the center will be part of the Celtics team that will participate in the Summer League. For the Boston team, the competition aimed at rising players starts on July 13th.
Neemias Queta joined the Boston team in 2023/24 and became champion in his first season, after two years with the Sacramento Kings (2021/22 and 2022/23), who chose him in 39th place in the ‘ 2021 draft
In a team full of great players, Neemias Queta had little ‘space’ to show himself, he rarely entered the rotation and was used very little in the play-offs, but he was always highly praised by coach Joe Mazzulla.
The Portuguese was on the field in just three of the Celtics’ 19 games, including one in the final, in which he came on with 5.25 minutes to go, with the Boston team losing by 45 points to the Mavericks, in what was the only defeat in the series. (84-122).
In the little time he had in the ‘finals’, he scored two points, converting the only ‘shot’ he attempted, and also managed a shot tackle, ‘winning’ by seven while he was on the field.
Previously, he played in the first two games of the conference semi-finals, with the Cleveland Cavaliers, coming in, winning 120-95 and losing 94-118, with the games resolved. He had two points and three rebounds in eight minutes.
Still, after signing a standard contract with the Celtics, on April 8, he was part of the ’15’ of the Boston team chosen for the play-offs and was always on the bench.
With use in three play-off games, the first ever, Neemias Queta totaled 31 in 2023/24, as he had been in 28 of the regular phase, almost all of them (24) settled by triumphs for the Massachussets team.
In the regular season, the 24-year-old Portuguese international averaged 5.5 points and 4.4 rebounds in 11.9 minutes.
