Forgetting what happened during the postseason, Neemias Queta rewarded the Boston Celtics' faith in him when they promoted him to their starting center, and they, in return, rewarded him with the richest contract of his career. Now, he just might reward them with his best season yet as a pro.
Queta was among the multiple Celtics who had their breakthrough season last year, but his stood out so much that he had a legitimate Most Improved Player campaign. So how could things get even better for him after he just had his best season? A healthier Jayson Tatum.
Many are looking forward to seeing how much Tatum will look like his old self when next season starts. He actually looked not too far off from the player Boston knew all too well before he tore his Achilles. However, even with players as good as Tatum, regaining that continuity on the floor with his teammates takes time.
Queta's numbers didn't change much when Tatum came back, but Tatum obviously needed reps just to get back into game shape, let alone time to get himself comfortable with a very different team from the one he had last played with in 2025.
However, even so, it's clear Tatum and the new-and-improved Queta had immediately established chemistry with one another from the jump.
Besides Derrick White, no one else played more minutes with Tatum than Queta, and their net rating as a two-man lineup, per NBA.com, was plus-14.6. Queta already established himself as one of the best Celtics success stories under Joe Mazzulla even without Tatum for most of the season.
The short sample size of them together is still pretty encouraging, and Boston clearly believes in their potential as a duo. Plus, in a few months, he's going to get Tatum with no shackles to speak of.
Queta could vie for MIP again
It sounds ridiculous to bring this up because he finished fourth in voting for Most Improved Player, behind only Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jalen Duren, and Deni Avdija. That was mostly without Tatum, but Tatum has a history of making bigs that play next to him look good.
Between Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, Robert Williams III, Luke Kornet, Daniel Theis, and we'll even non-ironically throw in Enes Freedom to the mix, Tatum has had a habit of more often than not getting the most out of the big men he's paired with. Queta might not be the best big man Tatum has ever played with, but it might be among the most impactful pairings he's had with a big.
For that reason, another leap might be in the cards for Queta this coming season. What made his leap impressive last season is that he did it mostly himself, and now he gets the big man whisperer by his side. The fact that the Tatum-Queta duo has an ambiguous ceilling shows how scary they could be.
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