TITLE: Queta chronicles rise from Portugal as Celtics monitor injuries and Vucevic’s progress
SLUG: queta-portugal-journey-scheierman-thumb-tatum-achilles-vucevic-adjustment
CONTENT:
Boston Celtics center Neemias Queta says carrying the banner for Portuguese basketball in the NBA is “a blessing I don’t take lightly.” In an interview published this week, the 26-year-old explained how his parents fled civil war–torn Guinea-Bissau for Portugal in the late 1990s before he was born in Lisbon and raised about 20 miles from the capital.
Queta told Andscape he did not pick up the sport until age 10 and landed just one U.S. scholarship offer, from Utah State in 2018. Sacramento chose the 7-footer with the 39th pick in the 2021 draft, but after two seasons on two-way deals he was waived in the 2023 offseason. Boston signed him to a two-way contract days later, converted him at the end of 2023-24 and inked him to a multiyear standard pact in summer 2024. The Celtics hold a $2.7 million team option for 2026-27.
Celtics notes
• Boston (39-20) sits second in the Eastern Conference entering Sunday’s home game against Philadelphia, but rookie guard Baylor Scheierman is listed as questionable. The left-handed 25-year-old suffered a left-thumb fracture when he collided with Ego Demin during Friday’s victory over Brooklyn. Scheierman, the No. 30 pick in 2024, remained on the floor another 13 minutes after taping the thumb and is averaging 8.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals in 27.1 minutes over 13 starts, including the past eight contests.
• Forward Jayson Tatum will not return Sunday as previously speculated. The five-time All-Star continues to rehab a torn Achilles tendon and has been ruled out against the 76ers.
• Newly acquired center Nikola Vucevic is still acclimating to Boston’s system but delivered his strongest outing Friday, posting 28 points on 9-of-13 shooting along with 11 rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes. “I do overthink a little bit, which makes me kind of hesitant,” the 35-year-old said. “I just have to find the right balance of being aggressive and making it fit with what we want to run.”
Source: Hoops Rumors
