Boston Celtics
Queta did not make this year’s top-100, but he’s one of several players to keep an eye on for next year.
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Brad Stevens explains why Celtics traded Jaylen Brown
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Center Neemias Queta talks about the Celtics’s summer and his quest for improvement at unveiling of basketball court in Cambridge
Celtics center Neemias Queta was not selected for ESPN’s latest rankings of the top 100 players in the NBA, but he was named as one of ten players to watch for next season.
Queta, 27, had a breakout season last year, averaging 10.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks while starting 76 games.
His minutes (25.3 per game) nearly doubled his average from 2025 when the Celtics had Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford. The Celtics traded Porzingis, and Al Horford signed with the Warriors during the offseason, opening up opportunities for Queta.
“Queta had never reached 1,000 minutes in a season before he played 1,926 in 2025-26 after being thrust into Boston’s starting center role with Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet gone,” ESPN’s Zach Kram wrote. “He took the opportunity and ran with it. Boston’s net rating was 8.6 points better with Queta on the court than when he was off, and his defensive metrics were particularly stellar.”
“Opponents made just 51% of their shots at the rim when Queta was the closest defender, which ranked seventh among 71 players who defended at least 200 shots.”
Queta enjoyed a strong regular-season before experiencing some growing pains in the playoffs. One of the reasons why he was on the watchlist instead of the top-100 list is that his track record is relatively short, having had just one season as a starter at the NBA level.
“The counterargument is that Queta has played at that level for only one year, and he struggled against Joel Embiid in the playoffs,” Kram wrote. “But he and Mitchell Robinson could form one of the NBA’s most potent big man duos this season.”
ESPN released the first part of it’s list featuring players ranked between 100 and 51 Tuesday morning. Paul George was No. 67. Payton Pritchard was No. 70.
The top 50 will be released at a later date. Derrick White has been in the top 50 for the past two years. He was No. 26 last year, moving up 13 spots from No. 39 in 2024.
Jayson Tatum was left out of the rankings last year because of the Achilles’ injury that caused him to miss most of the season. ESPN ranked him No. 5 on the 2024 list and No. 6 in 2023.
Players just outside of the top-100 that appeared on the watch list with Queta include: Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, Wizards forward Alex Sarr, and Nuggets guard Cameron Johnson, among others.
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