The Boston Celtics are in a bit of a dead period during the 2025 NBA offseason. One guy who has been keeping fans entertained recently is center Neemias Queta, who has been leading Portugal in EuroBasket 2025.
A reserve center with the Celtics, Queta has taken on a star role for Portugal in the tournament. After surprisingly leading his country out of the group phase, Portugal bowed out in the Round of 16 after suffering an 85-58 defeat at the hands of Germany on Saturday.
Queta still turned a lot of heads during his six-game stint in the tournament. During his time on the floor for Portugal, Queta averaged 15.5 points and eight rebounds per game, hitting 57.6% of his shots in the process.
Perhaps the most important guy whose attention Queta got a hold of was his head coach in Boston, Joe Mazzulla. According to the big man, Mazzulla was frequently sending him messages of support throughout his run with Portugal.
“Yeah, I spoke with him a couple times,” Queta said in an interview with Eurohoops. “He’s always sending me messages of appreciation or love or just ready for me to keep getting better, what he sees in me and what I need to improve on.”
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“And that’s a great relationship that we have. He always pushes me to be better as a player, and that’s something I really don’t take for granted because he really doesn’t have to do all that. And that’s a big bonus for me.”
Queta played in a career-high 62 games for the Celtics last season, averaging five points, 3.8 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game while hitting 65% of his field goal attempts. With Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kornet and likely Al Horford all departing this offseason, Queta could take on an even bigger role for the C’s in the 2025-26 campaign.
During his stint participating in EuroBasket, Queta certainly looked like a guy capable of doing more for Boston next season. He’s certainly caught Mazzulla’s attention, and it will be interesting to see if he can carry over the positive momentum to the upcoming NBA season.
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