Neemias Queta’s game has already taken one big step forward. The next one might come on offense.
For most of his NBA run, Queta has been a steady improver. Then last season happened. He didn’t just get better - he jumped from a fourth-string center to a starter in a matter of months and quickly turned himself into one of the league’s most valuable bigs, especially when it came to protecting the rim.
The defensive numbers back it up. When Queta was on the floor last year, opposing teams’ effective field goal percentage fell by 3.8%, a mark that landed in the 94th percentile at his position.
Among the 164 players who logged at least 1,500 minutes, he ranked fifth in the NBA. Only two centers finished better: Victor Wembanyama, who was first at -4.6%, and Rudy Gobert, who was third at -4.1%.
That side of the floor is already in strong shape. The bigger question is what comes next offensively.
Boston has spent the last few years without a true lob-catching center during Jayson Tatum’s prime, and Queta fits that mold. He’s the kind of big man who can punish defenses above the rim, and Tatum looks like the best player on the roster to help him cash in on that skill.
The connection was already there in flashes last season. Jaylen Brown assisted Queta at the rim 52 times in 67 games together.
Derrick White did it 66 times in 73 games. Payton Pritchard matched him with 68 rim assists in 74 games.
Then there’s Tatum, and the sample was tiny but eye-catching. The two only shared the floor in 16 games, yet Tatum assisted Queta at the rim 22 times in that stretch.
Queta also showed real pop as a pick-and-roll finisher. He averaged 2.1 pick-and-roll man possessions per game, and Boston scored 1.35 points per possession on those plays, which ranked 11th among the 89 players who handled at least one pick-and-roll man possession per game.
A few of the players who saw more of those chances than Queta were Alex Sarr (3.8), Maxime Raynaud (3.1), Deandre Ayton (2.7), Guerschon Yabusele (2.7), Jusuf Nurkic (2.6), and Jock Landale (2.3).
Boston had plenty of ways to score last season and will have plenty again. Still, Queta’s efficiency in the pick-and-roll, combined with the fact that Tatum is now in Brown’s role as the primary creator for most of the year, makes feeding Queta more at the rim look like an obvious next step.
The rim-assist numbers help show why. Brown averaged 2.1 rim assists per 100 possessions last season. Tatum posted 2.2 in the 2024-25 season, and in his limited games after returning last year, that figure climbed to 2.9.
That lines up with the kind of center Queta is. He gives a creator a very different target than Al Horford or Kristaps Porzingis. Those two are first and foremost floor-spacers, with lob threat coming much later, if at all.
Pritchard averaged 2.3 rim assists per 100 possessions, and White finished at 2.9. The elite playmakers are on a different level entirely: Luka Doncic at 5.1, Nikola Jokic at 6.7, and Cade Cunningham at 6.9.
That’s the lane Boston needs to build toward with Queta. The efficiency is already showing up. What he needs now is more reps, and he’s got the roster around him to get them.
Queta isn’t the only center whose pick-and-roll work stands out, either. Mitchell Robinson averaged just 0.8 pick-and-roll man possessions per game, but he was absurdly efficient in that role.
The Knicks put up 1.70 points per possession with Robinson as the PnR man. Only Caleb Love, a 6-foot-3 guard who averaged 0.3 pick-and-roll man possessions per game, was better at 1.71.
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Payton Pritchards Jaylen Brown Reaction Says A Lot About Bostons Next Step
Payton Pritchard did not spend much time dwelling on Jaylen Browns move to Philadelphia, at least not publicly. Speaking after the trade, the Celtics guard framed it the way players often do when the business side of the league lands hardest: as part of the job, and as another chance to absorb what a teammate like Brown taught him along the way. Pritchard also said the teams group chat has not turned into a postmortem on the deal, which is usually a sign that the roster is already shifting its attention to the next phase.
That next phase arrives quickly, with Boston set to open preseason against the Cavaliers on Oct. 8 before hosting the 76ers two days later. Pritchards focus on his own game fits the moment, because the Celtics are about to find out what their new shape looks like in real time, and one of the first chances to measure it will come against Brown in a Philadelphia uniform. The early days of camp and preseason tend to reveal what a team is ready to say out loud and what it is still sorting through quietly. [Read more 🡒]
Payton Pritchards Celtics Reaction Says Plenty About Bostons New Reality
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Still, the clearest window into where things stand may have come from Payton Pritchard, whose reaction to Jaylen Browns move to Philadelphia said plenty about how different this version of the Celtics feels. Between a fresh draft pick, a veteran addition, and the franchises long-term building questions, Boston is entering a stretch where almost every comment seems to hint at a bigger reset still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Payton Pritchard Could Gain Something Huge From Mike Conley
Payton Pritchard has already grown into an important part of Bostons rotation, but the Celtics summer moves suggest there is still room for him to sharpen the finer points of running an offense. After trading Jaylen Brown, the front office went into the offseason looking to build a better support system around Jayson Tatum and Paul George, and the addition of Mike Conley Jr. fits neatly into that plan. Conley brings the kind of veteran steadiness and point guard know-how that can help a player like Pritchard keep expanding his game.
For Boston, this is about more than just filling out the depth chart. Conley is expected to provide leadership and mentorship to younger players, and Pritchard stands out as one of the clearest beneficiaries because of how much he can still absorb about the position. The Celtics do not need him to become a different player, but if Conley can help him see the floor a little better and manage the offense with more control, that is the sort of quiet upgrade that can matter once the games get tight. [Read more 🡒]