Kristaps Porzingis believes Neemias Queta is ready for a more prominent role in the Celtics’ frontcourt. But should Queta start for a Boston team that lost its top three centers this offseason?
On that, Porzingis sounded less sure.
“Starter? Good question,” the ex-Celtics big man told reporters Monday after squaring off against Queta in a group-stage game at EuroBasket 2025. “Who else is there? I don’t know. I haven’t thought about their roster, honestly, too deep.”
A move into the top of the depth chart would be a significant jump for the 26-year-old Queta, who’s started just six games in his NBA career and was not part of head coach Joe Mazzulla’s core Celtics rotation last season. But the 7-footer projects as Boston’s most likely starting center entering training camp after the team traded Porzingis to Atlanta and lost Luke Kornet (signed with San Antonio) and Al Horford (not expected to return) in free agency.
Earlier this offseason, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said Queta is “much better” than the fourth-string role he played for most of 2024-25 and has a “great chance to be impactful” this season. Queta’s top competition at center will be former Minnesota Timberwolves backup Luka Garza and second-round rookie Amari Williams, with versatile veteran newcomer Chris Boucher and returning reserve Xavier Tillman also set to battle for frontcourt minutes.
Before the Celtics reconvene for camp later this month, Queta has been headlining Portugal’s EuroBasket squad, on which he is the only current or former NBA player. He leads his team in points (15.0), rebounds (8.5) and blocks per game (2.0) across matchups against Czechia, Nikola Jokic’s Serbia, Alperen Sengun’s Turkey and Porzingis’ Latvia.
Queta tallied 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting with seven rebounds and one block in Monday’s 78-62 loss to Latvia. Porzingis, who’s been a full participant for his national side after a lingering illness severely limited him during this spring’s Celtics playoff run, finished with 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists and one block.
“What I will say is Neemi has been getting better each year, and Coach Mazzulla has been pretty tough on him,” Porzingis told reporters. “I believe that he’s getting to a point where he deserves some real minutes, some real rotation minutes. He’s been putting in the work, and you can see how he’s playing now in the tournament. I’m happy for Neemi. He’s a great, great dude, really cool person, and puts in the time, puts in the work. I’ll be happy to see him getting a lot more minutes this year.”
Queta appeared in a career-high 62 games for Boston last season, his first as a full-time NBA player after three years of splitting time with the G League. He logged 13.9 minutes per appearance, averaging 5.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.7 blocks.
Porzingis, one of four Celtics rotation players to leave town this summer as the team cut salary to avoid second-apron luxury tax penalties, will join a young Hawks team that aims to contend in a wide-open Eastern Conference. Injuries and illness caused him to miss 65 regular-season games over his two seasons in Boston, but he was an impact player when healthy, averaging 19.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game for the C’s while shooting 50.2% from the field and 39.2% from 3-point range.
The first meeting between the Celtics and Porzingis’ Hawks is scheduled for Jan. 17 in Atlanta, with Porzingis set to return to TD Garden for the first time on Jan. 28.
Originally Published: September 2, 2025 at 1:36 PM EDT