Because the Jaylen Brown trade is and will continue to be the talk of the town for the Boston Celtics, it's overshadowed how slick Brad Stevens has been this offseason with his other moves. There's no telling what's to come from Paul George, but Stevens' free agency moves have been even better than it's getting credit for because of how much they are projected to pay off for what they're being paid.
Yeah, we're talking about Mitchell Robinson, but we're also talking about Neemias Queta's new extension too. Robinson was one of the best bigs on the market, while Queta's coming off his breakout season. The Sporting News' Steph Noh revealed his model of who would give the most value for the contract they signed in millions.
Robinson was on the good side of the spectrum in this projection, peaking at plus-23.7, but Queta topped everyone on the list at plus-96.7.
Here's how some of the most prominent signings of the summer grade out in my salary model that translates expected impact --> dollar value. Green is a good contract, red is bad.
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) July 6, 2026
Most contracts have been either good or neutral-ish, with one notable exception: pic.twitter.com/UcGrRFHcJW
The conclusion from this is that the Celtics basically just secured their frontcourt of the immediate future and they did it for much less than what they were worth. Boston is going to capitalize big time from having Queta and Robinson (let's not forget Luka Garza) taking up most of the minutes.
Boston was already pretty confident in what these two could do together, but models like these should make them even more excited for what they can do, and at a team-friendly price.
Let's not forget Ron Harper Jr.
Harper also got a new deal this offseason. This happened after Harper finally broke through the NBA, highlighted by his performance in Boston's regular season finale against Orlando, among several standout performances.
He may not put that up on a regular basis, but Harper's talent may be good enough to become a valued rotation player this coming season. Impressive yes, but the Celtics would pay him around $3 million a year for the next four years to potentially play a vital role in their next playoff team.
Between Queta, Robinson, and Harper (and who knows who else in the coming years), Stevens has played free agency masterfully, even if his trades have come into question over the past week.
Many have and will continue to question Stevens for swapping Brown for Paul George, but no one can say he doesn't know how to find diamonds in the rough when they're presented to him. Even with someone with Robinson's rep, he is likely to turn him and the others into even smarter investments than we already know.
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