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Let's talk about the new contract with the Celtics. Four seasons for $56 million, which is €49 million. What does it mean to you beyond the money? What did this recognition express? "Yes, for me, the money wasn't the most important thing at all. The most important thing was knowing that Boston believed in me for another four years. I'll be able to continue calling Boston home for that entire time, without having to look over my shoulder. Without having to worry about the next season. What I wanted or what would happen. There's uncertainty when you're a free agent. It creates certain difficulties in terms of knowing how to manage the year, injuries and everything else, and I didn't want to be thinking about that. It was very good for me and I feel flattered to have that confidence from the front office . "
And is there any dream that this contract might allow? And can you tell me what it is that you want to offer me? Neemias Queta: "My dream is to have my own house. A dream house. To create my own space, my own world. But I think I'll be patient with it, I don't want to rush it. It's a project that will take a long time, and when it happens, hopefully it will be successful."
With the new salary coming up, would it be easier to spend $100,000 [ €88,000 ] to train for a week with Hakeem Olajuwon on post movements? Is that something you would like to do? Neemias Queta: I'm cheap. No, I don't spend $100,000 on training. Not even with Hakeem Olajuwon? Neemias Queta: Not even with Hakeem Olajuwon.
Mitchell Robinson was with the Knicks. He's now going to be your teammate and you'll be rotating with him at center. He's someone you enjoyed playing against, someone who pushed you, or someone who… Neemias Queta: "What I appreciate is not having to box out against him because it was very difficult. He's a very strong, very agile player, capable of going in and winning almost every offensive rebound. Having a player of this level, who defends so well and can cause so much trouble on the offensive boards, will be very good because we are quite similar basketball players and we can bring many similar things to the team, which is essential."
NBA star Neemias Queta will lead Portugal’s team in the upcoming FIBA WC Qualifiers window. Portugal successfully completed the first part of the qualifiers with a record of 3-3 and is awaiting the start of the second round. In the first window, they will visit Spain on August 28 and host Georgia on August 31.
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This summer, Mazzulla has taken that commitment to another level; it’s mid-July, and he has already spent time with four different players in four different parts of the world: Jordan Walsh in Texas, Baylor Scheierman in Nebraska, Hugo Gonzalez in Spain, and Neemias Queta in Portugal.
Walsh said he learned things about Mazzulla he never knew, and that the rare quality time was valuable. “Jordan and I had a great conversation, just kind of understanding how he grew up,” Mazzulla said. “But really, it’s not even about learning about that. I think guys are more comfortable in their home atmosphere. So, even the types of conversations that you’re having are more comfortable, and it might spark different questions, different conversations if you’re on their home territory. We had deeper conversations because we were in a more vulnerable situation.”
Walsh was (positively) caught off guard when Mazzulla first initiated the visit. “I was definitely surprised,” Walsh recalled with a smile. “Like, what the hell does Joe want? But it was cool. It was so cool that he was making that kind of effort to come see me.” Walsh joked he kept Mazzulla out of the trouble: “I kept him in the good part of the city, where it’s good food, good people. He didn’t get to experience the other side. Maybe one day.”
In early July, Mazzulla was on the other side of the world, supporting Hugo Gonzalez in the World Cup qualifying tournament in Madrid, Spain. “We went out to dinner a couple times,” Gonzalez said. “He went to every practice — so really, really grateful that he was willing to be there.” Knowing that Mazzulla is a big soccer fan, Gonzalez took him to the Bernabéu, the second-largest football arena in the country, as well as other notable venues. “I try to show him where I’ve been eight or nine years of my life,” Gonzalez said. “The ones who built me as a player, and he wanted to know it, so I just showed him Valdebebas, [which] is like the Auerbach Center of Real Madrid.”
At the beginning of June, Mazzulla flew to Lisbon to work out with Neemias Queta in the gym where he first learned how to play the game he now excels at. That came just a few weeks before Queta signed a long-term extension with the franchise. Mazzulla rebounded for Queta at the Futebol Clube Barreirense, the first club in which Queta ever played basketball. “It’s just surreal,” Queta said. “A couple years ago, if you had said an NBA coach is coming to that specific gym just to see me and get to know me, I would have been like, ‘You gotta be kidding me.’ Joe makes sure — he wants to make that extra step, extra effort, just to make sure you feel comfortable. And I think that’s one of the reasons why he’s such a good coach. He worries about people, and that’s why I’m running through a wall for him.”
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Neemias Queta, who has been teammates with Brown for three years, also spoke to reporters on Friday night for the first time since the trade. “It’s not easy,” Queta said. “I think you feel for him. Obviously, it wasn’t easy for him as well. But at the end of the day, it’s part of the business. You know what’s happening. You know it can happen at any moment. But Jaylen’s a guy that you can’t replace in the city. Really, really hard to replace on the court as well. He did so much for Boston in general, and he will definitely be missed.”
Bobby Krivitsky: I asked Neemias Queta how rewarding it was to sign his brand new contract extension and how much of a motivator that is for him as he builds off last season’s evolution. “It’s been a long time, I’ve been really wishing for something like that to happen.”
There was a quote making the rounds that Jaylen Brown was the seventh-best player on the Celtics. Jaylen Brown grades out as the fifth most impactful player on the roster, behind Tatum, Queta, White, and Pritchard. But here's the context that matters: Brown also carried an enormous load. Last season, 35.2% of Boston's possessions ended in a Brown shot, free throw attempt, or turnover, one of the highest usage rates in the entire league. That usage cuts both ways. If Brown's role were reduced, his impact metrics could actually climb. Fewer possessions could mean better efficiency on offense and more energy to pour into his defense. So while I don't think any serious analytical person would call Brown the seventh-best Celtic, I do think it's fair to call him overvalued relative to his contract moving forward. And that's the real question the Celtics have to sit with: what is Brown producing in his current role, and what are they paying for it?
Shams Charania: The Celtics picked up Neemias Queta's team option for next season -- and the sides add four full guaranteed years through 2030-31. After going in the second round to the Kings in 2021, the big man went onto sign three two-ways and three prove-it multiyear deals. Now locked into $56M.
