Neemias Queta Among NBA's Best This Season: "Fantastic!"

Currently enjoying a standout season with the Boston Celtics, Neemias Queta has earned a spot on The Ringer's list of the top 100 basketball players this season, as recognized by the esteemed North American sports website.

The 26-year-old Portuguese center is described as a player who "blossomed late and is now a central pillar of one of the league's top teams."

With his finishing, off-ball defense, and shot-blocking highlighted as three key strengths, Neemias's season is deemed "fantastic" by Rob Mahoney: "It's fantastic what Queta has achieved this season, simply by doing his job and always being available. Creating real contact on screens and rolling to the basket? What a concept! Blocking out a defender to facilitate an interior pass? Revolutionary! Even in this era of aliens and unicorns, it pays to have a center doing what traditional centers do—especially when the center in question has a good touch, demonstrates solid instincts, and can hold his own on both ends of the court."

What aspect of the modern NBA does the Portuguese player represent? The Ringer answers: "The reward for patience. It's one thing to have scouts capable of identifying true talent, and quite another to have a system that allows that talent to flourish. The best organizations give players they believe in the space to develop at their own pace. Others (like Queta's first team, the Sacramento Kings) give up, only to see their former players thrive elsewhere."

Finally, the article reveals what wearing a Neemias jersey says about fans: "You're rebellious enough not to pick Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum, a hipster so hardcore you'd even pass on Derrick White, and so locked into the here and now that you'd ignore any number of Celtics legends. But should you opt for Payton Pritchard? No, that's too common. Hugo González? Too flashy. Are you overthinking this? Undoubtedly."