Neemias Queta in Portugal Preparing for EuroBasket and Big Celtics Role

LISBON, Portugal — Neemias Queta just finished a workout with Maine Celtics assistant Taaj Ridley following the third day of camp in Carcavelos, 13 miles west of Lisbon. He tossed up hook shots, controlled and tapped back rebounds off the glass, then practiced his shooting form at the free throw and three-point line before speaking to CLNS Media exclusively about his busy months ahead.

This is Part I of a three part series on my week in Lisbon with Queta as he prepares to play for Portugal in EuroBasket later this month.

Ridley, who joined Queta upon request at the week-long camp in Portugal after logistics prevented him from doing so last year, tailored the workouts toward the different role Queta will play for Team Portugal in August’s EuroBasket competition. He’s the scoring hub of this offense, so his country will need more one-on-one scoring than the Celtics did from him in 2025.

Queta’s role in Boston could change too. He’ll need to set the right screens, pressure the glass and roam on defense if he becomes the team’s starting center — and do it every night. It’s a possibility unthinkable even 90 days ago when the Celtics-Knicks series began. One that rookie Amari Williams reflected when he said he wanted to learn from the team’s veterans like Queta after Boston selected Williams in the NBA Draft last month.

“That’s always good,” Queta told CLNS at the camp. “A couple of years ago I wasn’t sure I was gonna stay around in the league and it’s a great position to be in right now being called a vet, but you never want to take it for granted, because you never know what tomorrow brings. I’m just glad I got the opportunity in front of me for me to prove what I’m worth, and let’s do it man. Whether Amari, whether the young guys need anything from me, I’m just here to help them, bring them close to the team and make things easier for them like the other guys did for me.”

Those guys — Al Horford, Kristaps Porziņģis and Luke Kornet — vacated a championship front court that Queta learned from as a two-way signing in 2024 on the way to a championship before filling in for them as fatigue and injury set in the following season. Queta showed well, earned his first career start and logged five more early in the schedule. He averaged 6.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while Boston won 12 of Queta’s first 15 appearances this past season. Mazzulla challenged him often throughout and stressed Queta’s high ceiling.

Luka Garza joined Queta at center in free agency as the team’s primary options at center ahead of Williams, who hasn’t officially signed a two-way deal yet. Queta is familiar with Garza from the pre-draft process in 2021 where they competed together, and has spent time with Garza, Anfernee Simons and other new additions at the facility already this summer.

“I think it’s making sure I get in great shape, go out there and make elite decisions with the ball in my hands and making sure I get great finishes this year,” Queta said. “I also want to raise up my free throws, my free throw attempts, this year. Just wanna be aggressive and make sure I get my percentage up on the free throw line too. I think I always work on the threes no matter what, you never know when you’ll need one of them and even if I’m not a great shooter off the three-point line, if I’m open and I gotta shoot it, I’ll shoot it confidently.”

Queta signed a three-year contract with the Celtics the previous summer, calling it a no-brainer after the Kings shocked him by releasing him late in 2023 after he agreed to a similar deal there. The call came after he left the building following a workout.

He slowly became part of Boston’s rotation over the following two seasons until he lost his spot just before the 2025 playoffs. Queta understood. Kornet worked his way through years of sporadic playing time in Boston to a significant role and a four-year contract. A competitor for minutes, Kornet helped Queta and became his favorite teammate, then played significant minutes together in 2025.

“Obviously, it’s not easy losing these guys,” Queta said. “Guys that we cherished in the locker room and on the court too, they made a big difference, huge impacts for us. Luke was great off the bench and whenever his name was called, he was always ready. I learned a lot of that from him, so it’s gonna be a tough year losing him. Then, K.P. was a guy that was always great to have around, great in the locker room and super skilled, super talented. We’re gonna miss that, and then Jrue was always the glue guy, the connector, he did everything for us. He used to guard seven-footers, he used to pressure up on the perimeter, he used to initiate offense. So they’re tough losses, but I feel like we’re always ready for it and it’s the business. So we gotta keep moving on.”

“We’re gonna prove them otherwise.”

Despite those losses, Queta spoke adamantly as he stood in the gym icing his knee as he returned to the floor following surgery earlier this offseason, affirming that the Celtics will remain competitive while admitting that the departures rocked them. Joe Mazzulla, Brad Stevens and the team’s brass will expect nothing less from them.

Yet the realization of the massive leap he’s about to take in responsibility each night seemed to only have recently hit him. It’s one he’s embracing. He has no choice as an entire country anxiously awaits his ascension to a starting role. And he knows a successful season will require that he performs.

“It’s not really what we were really expecting,” Queta said with a smile. “But I feel like we’re in a position that I’m growing, I’m developing at a steady pace, with big responsibility … I need to show out every day with more consistency. I’ve been working at it, and I feel like I’m getting ready for it, so hopefully it’s gonna be a big year for me in general and I think I’m gonna step up for the occasion and all the other guys as well. We’re not really the group that everybody points out as the best, but we’re gonna prove them otherwise.”

Sweat poured off Queta’s chin shortly after his workout began. He shedded his shirt. Temperatures rose to 90 degrees during the day near Lisbon, and the indoor court that hosted his camp only provided a slight reprieve. Ridley tested Queta every day across 45 minutes focused on conditioning. Queta underwent arthroscopic surgery in May on his left knee that pained him for several years, going back to his youth in Portugal, and the Celtics’ early playoff exit provided an opportunity to get it right before EuroBasket.

“We feel pretty confident in the process and we’re just grateful that we were taken care of,” Queta said. “I want to make sure I’m healthy and get back to 100% and I feel like I’m on the right path to do that.”

“I don’t think it’s easy (recovering from surgery),” he said. “I’ve had a couple before. I was pretty much rehabbing and getting strength back into the leg … we did a lot of the same drills, it’s just different in the aspect of you gotta make sure you eat even better. It’s pretty much a new me and … (we want to) get it the best possible way we can right away so we have a high ceiling and high standard.”

Queta’s Celtics career began while he managed a stress fracture in his foot from earlier in the summer that disrupted his first training camp with the team. He missed the first 10 games into November, then played admirable depth minutes around Christmas when injuries struck.

Queta doesn’t consider this rehab as disruptive, and he is already nearing full strength. Portugal begins preparation for the camp early this month scrimmaging in northern Portugal and Spain. He returned to Boston following his camp late this month for a final check-up to receive clearance to participate in EuroBasket, Portugal’s fourth appearance in the country’s history and the first, he notes, featuring his generation in full. The roster features Queta, his Utah State teammate Diogo Brito, longtime friend Rafael Lisboa and Travante Williams, an American-born forward who led the team in scoring through qualifiers.

“Just go with it everyday. Whether it gets set back every now and then, we know we started at a great spot for now,” Queta said. “We’re getting there slowly but surely. We’re reconditioning our body, we’re figuring out ways to be athletic, ways to be out there moving well. We’re just trying to figure out the movement patterns to get back and I think it’s going well. I’m really confident in the work that I put in, the amount of hours that I put in and it’s gonna show.”

Recovery

Every recovery involves getting your wind back. So after doing sprints with Celtics trainer Zay Covington in Boston during Summer League practice, Queta lined up in Lisbon, dribbling for several minutes at a time, tossing multiple basketballs back-and-forth with Ridley, then running back-and-forth to shoot threes on either end of the court.

He fell to the floor after Thursday’s workout, exhausted, then ran suicides after the camp finished on Friday, not originally expecting to train that night. Friends observed that Queta feels like he can never skip even a free throw attempt. Music blasts through a large speaker throughout the days. He still enjoys Drake, Brazilian hip-hop and pop artists like The Weeknd.

One of them is Francisco Barroca, Queta’s roommate from his year with Benfica. He asked Ridley and Queta to help after he saw a session earlier in the week. So he sprinted with Queta, helped set up his pick-and-pop shots, attacked him when Queta transitioned into his defensive drills, then Barroca celebrated after hitting a pair of step-back jumpers over Queta, his long time friend.

“I couldn’t even flick my hand all the way because he was there already, but it still went in,” Barroca said. “I don’t know if there’s record of that.”

Barroca’s father Carlos Barroca, a former NBA Asia coach, ran the camp like a general — teaching, leading chants and teasing the 80 players and many coaches in attendance throughout. Queta appeared in the morning, rehabbed during the afternoon, then conditioned after long days that finished with a nap before dinner.

“It’s a 45 minute, very intense, very focused workout where in Portugal we’d practice for two hours, two hours 30 every single time,” Francisco said. “So it’s a new way to look at basketball. It was very challenging for myself to see someone that really can switch onto guards as he can. Trying to get buckets on him is very difficult.”

Ridley borrowed the drills from Queta’s Boston assistant Da’Sean Butler and Celtics head of player development Craig Luschenat, focusing on touch around the rim, screening and avoiding fouls while perfecting his follow-through on threes and at the free throw line, where he took extra shots to ensure he made enough. Queta doesn’t envision shooting a significant number of threes this season. He just wants to make sure he can take them confidently and make them when he’s open above the line.

“(We’re) mainly just working on his touch around the rim, him just getting comfortable in screening without fouling,” Ridley said. “Then also working on his jump shot, perfecting his follow-through. He wants to expand his game to be able to stretch the floor and make threes, and I feel like in the offseason is where you work on stuff like that. So we’re working on little tedious things that just enhance what he has already.”

Last year, he attempted three for the first time in his career, and he’s hit only three in the G-League in 19 tries. He has touch from outside and the Celtics will need to find new ways to generate offense through their centers. As part of his EuroBasket training, he also fired up mid-rangers throughout the week. Portugal’s group includes Turkey, Serbia and Latvia, lining him up across from Alperen Şengün, Nikola Jokić and former teammate Porziņģis — a challenge in line with what he’s up against in Boston this season. EuroBasket begins on Aug. 27.

“It’s always good to get a head start on everybody playing wise and getting into shape earlier on and finding your rhythm and getting a better feel for the game,” Queta said. “It’ll be a seamless transition for training camp in Boston, but the main thing is going out there and competing. We know how had it is to compete at that level, I feel like we’ve been building a great foundation for the last couple of years and the team is young, our team is full of players that are hungry to make a name for themselves. So let the games begin.”