Technically speaking, the Boston Celtics didn’t improve this season. In fact, they won five fewer games than they did last season. That goes to show you how deceptive objective numbers can be when being used to make the wrong point. The reality is, because of the Celtics’ drastic internal improvements this season, they won almost as many games as they did last year.
At the forefront of that improvement was Neemias Queta. There were a lot of questions about him coming into this season. The talent was there, but not the consistency. In fact, because of the uncertainty surrounding Queta, the foundation of the doubt surrounding Boston stemmed from their frontcourt.
Mar 14, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics center Neemias Queta (88) reacts after being called for a foul against the Washington Wizards during the first half at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
Of course, Queta proved that wrong, as his numbers took a massive jump across the board. That alone makes a solid case for him to win Most Improved Player. He went from Boston’s fourth big on their depth chart to their starter and barely skipped a beat despite everything that went against him.
The Numbers Don’t Tell the Full Story
The Celtics center likely won’t win Most Improved Player based on his numbers alone. However, here’s a pivotal question everyone should keep in mind that would make his case even better: Where would Boston be without Queta?
The answer is sobering. Without Queta’s emergence, the Celtics’ frontcourt would have been a revolving door of uncertainty. The doubt that surrounded the team at the beginning of the season would have been justified. Instead, Queta turned a weakness into a strength.
Queta Was Perhaps Boston’s Third-Most Valuable Player
First of all, there’s a difference between saying a player was a team’s (X)-best player and saying he was a team’s (X)-most valuable player. Sometimes those terms overlap, and sometimes they don’t. In this case, it’s the latter.
It’s apples and oranges to say who was better between Queta and Payton Pritchard. However, in spite of how very impressive Pritchard was when Boston needed him to be, Queta was a jack-of-all-trades center who covered so much ground in a position where the Celtics were lacking. In short, behind Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, Queta was their third-most indispensable player.
The Complete Package
This is not a shot at Luka Garza or Nikola Vucevic, but think of the whole package Queta gave to the Celtics by himself: a lob threat, rim protector, offensive rebounder, screen roller, savvy post-game, perimeter defense, and even the occasional home run pass every now and again.
He wasn’t exactly prime Al Horford, but he wasn’t too far off from what Horford brought to the team on any given night at the top of his game. In fact, it was because of how skilled Horford was at the little things that made Boston so hard to beat. Queta replicating that as best he can is why the team stayed so bulletproof.
The Numbers Jump
Let’s look at the raw improvement. Queta’s stats skyrocketed across the board. He went from a fringe rotation player to a reliable starter. His rebounding, shot-blocking, and overall defensive presence gave the Celtics a dimension they desperately needed.
Before this season, Queta had never been asked to carry such a load. He responded by becoming one of the most consistent big men on the roster.
The MIP Case: A Long Shot Worth Discussing
The NBA’s Most Improved Player award is tough because there’s a wide spectrum of players who deserve it. It’s not like Nickeil Alexander-Walker or Jalen Duren aren’t deserving candidates in the slightest.
But also consider this: in their franchise history, the Celtics have never had a player win MIP. That trend might continue when it’s all said and done, but Queta may have gone on the best campaign for it the team has ever seen.
The Verdict: Value Beyond Awards
Whether Queta wins the award or not is almost beside the point. The real story is how he transformed from a question mark into an exclamation point. He took a position of weakness and made it a position of strength.
The Celtics won 56 games this season. They secured the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. And they did it with a starting center who, just one year ago, was barely in the rotation.
Neemias Queta may not get the trophy. But he has already won something more important: the trust of his teammates, the confidence of his coaches, and the respect of Celtics fans.
And that, more than any award, is what matters.