Neemias Queta anchored a Celtics team that posted a plus-13.2 net rating when he played last season, shooting 65.3 percent while barely attempting a jump shot. His salary rises from $2.7 million this year to $12.5 million in 2027-28, and camp will decide which number is the real one.
His efficiency last season came from where he shoots, not how often.
Queta used just 14.5 percent of Boston's possessions last season and turned that into a 118.8 offensive rating and a 67.4 percent true shooting mark, the product of 65.3 percent shooting on almost no three-point attempts, 0.1 a game. His counting stats, 10.2 points and 8.4 rebounds over 76 games, read modest next to those efficiency marks because the shot selection did the work: layups, dunks and free throws, where he shot 70.3 percent.
Defense is the number the new contract was written around.
Boston's defensive rating sat at 105.6 with Queta on the floor last season, feeding a plus-13.2 net rating across 25.3 minutes a night, five seasons into his career at 27. That value is why his deal jumps from $2.7 million this year to $12.5 million in 2027-28, then $13.5 million, $14.5 million and $15.5 million in the three years after that.
The lineups that worked for him ran through one guard.
Queta's most-used five-man group last season, built around Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, played 35 games and posted a plus-17.9 net rating with him at center. Jaylen Brown, part of that group, is now in Philadelphia, and Mitchell Robinson has arrived to share the center spot, a rotation question MassLive's Souichi Terada flagged before camp opened.
He arrives at camp with one variable already settled.
Queta is not on the injury report. At 27, in his fifth season, the open question is whether he keeps the starting job over Robinson, not whether his body holds up.
What is Neemias Queta's salary with the Celtics?
He earns $2.7 million in 2026-27, then his deal rises to $12.5 million in 2027-28 and tops out at $15.5 million in 2030-31.
How did Neemias Queta perform for the Celtics last season?
He played 76 games at 25.3 minutes, averaging 10.2 points and 8.4 rebounds on 65.3 percent shooting, with Boston posting a 13.2 net rating when he was on the floor.
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