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Los Angeles Lakers prospect Colin Castelton found an opening in the paint before he was fed by Dalton Knecht. It sure looked like an easy play at the basket or two points on the board, but Knect was met at the rim emphatically.
There was the Boston Celtics under the radar addition to their championship roster from last season, Neemias Queta. He sent back and disrupted Castelton’s attempt, ran the floor, and received the under-handed alley-oop dish from Jordan Walsh. Picture-perfect display of Queta’s player development strides in Boston.
The high-flying five showed raw potential whenever he took the floor with the Celtics personnel, and an energetic activity level on the glass and the interior.
Las Vegas Summer League was in full effect on Monday night, with many games under the belt of the tournament, now a few days in. Celtics and Lakers had their annual July-matchup to continue showcasing basketball’s biggest rivalry on all levels. In Boston’s 14-point victory, Queta was the star of the show with 22 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks on 7-10 from the field.
Entering last season in acknowledgement of a new-look front court, Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis needing to be preserved, Boston’s security of their bigs may have been a question mark to begin last season. Queta became a diamond in the rough making the team through training camp last fall after being signed from Sacramento, he showed out in the preseason and whenever his size and energy was needed.
The flexibility that Queta, Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman Sr. provided fully exceeded expectations as a strong stability group of centers that were crucial with Porzingis and Horford needing to rest and be preserved for the postseason. It will be put to the test even more come next season, with Porzingis’ leg injury expected to hold him out until most likely December.
“Give coach Mazzulla a headache about how many options he has.”
— Bobby Krivitsky (@BobbyKrivitsky) July 16, 2024
I asked Neemias Queta about the motivation he draws from the opportunity he has in front of him with Porzingis out and the Celtics pacing Horford. pic.twitter.com/4KO9sYr2hb
“You know guys are gonna be out, so, you just gotta keep attacking as early as possible, try to improve in all these facets of the game,” Queta said, understanding his stride and improvements, knowing there is an opportunity in front of him. “Give coach Mazzulla a headache about how many options he has.”
For the last year, Queta has shown plenty of promise as a special talent at center for them to grow for the present and future. A promising center that went under the radar of the finds that Brad Stevens and the Celtics front office found. It's a main exhibit of the job they did last year. His game has shown similarities to former Celtic Robert Williams. Queta can be a perfect flower to bloom in Boston.
More must-reads:
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TODAY'S BEST
New Celtics owner's comments should make fans happy
After the Celtics announced their new ownership structure on Tuesday, majority owner and team governor William Chisholm and alternate governor Wyc Grousbeck talked to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe about their plans for the future. Chisholm, who headed up the group that purchased the franchise from the Grousbeck family at a valuation of $6.1 billion, said he understands the immediate need to cut costs to escape the second apron and get control of the team’s salary structure. However, he promised that won’t affect his overall vision for the franchise. “We’re not playing for second; we’re playing for championships and banners,” Chisholm said. “We’re playing for them in the near term, although we obviously had to do some things to get below the second apron. But we’re also playing for them in the medium and long term. The second apron means you can’t do it by just throwing money at the problem. You have to do it with talent, you have to do it with leadership, and with Wyc and with (president of basketball operations Brad Stevens) and (president Rich Gotham) and (coach Joe Mazzulla), I feel like we have the best leaders in the league.” Chisholm also expressed optimism that the Celtics can exceed expectations this season with Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard leading the way. He added that there’s “real talent” on the roster “that hasn’t been fully realized.” Chisholm also emphasized that his plan to run the team in a close partnership with Grousbeck hasn’t changed. League rules prevented Grousbeck from retaining his position as governor because he owns less than 15% of the franchise, but both men insist that’s a technicality that won’t affect day-to-day operations. “When it became clear the governor title was not going to be available because of technical reasons, because of math, Bill said, ‘Well, then we’re just not going to use that word around the office.’ So that says a lot about Bill, that he doesn’t care,” Grousbeck said. “He just wants to do the right thing for the team, and I feel the exact same way. We’re shoulder to shoulder.” They also addressed the decision to give Mazzulla a multiyear extension ahead of what should be his most challenging season as head coach. Grousbeck said they want him “happy and empowered” as he leads a team that’s suddenly in the middle of the pack in the East. “I’m really excited to see what he does in this kind of environment,” Chisholm added. “I think people will really appreciate what he’s all about. When he doesn’t have the loaded team, what can he do? And I think that’s going to be really interesting, and I have every confidence he’s going to crush it.”
Steelers have major injury concern leaving preseason
The No. 1 priority for NFL teams in the preseason is to get out of the games without major injury. The Pittsburgh Steelers may have failed with that one on Thursday night against the Carolina Panthers. Defensive lineman Derrick Harmon, the team's first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, had to be carted to the locker room with a knee injury while also looking visibly upset as he was taken back. The team announced almost immediately that he would be out for the remainder of the game with a knee injury. Head coach Mike Tomlin provided an update after the game: Defensive line was a top priority for the Steelers this offseason, especially after their playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens where they allowed nearly 300 rushing yards to end their season. Along with Harmon, they also selected Iowa's Yahya Black in this year's class to help try to beef up their line. Harmon is expected to play a major role in this year's defense and was already in a starting position. With star defensive lineman Cameron Heyward holding in as he tries to get a new contract from the team, that puts even more importance on Harmon's ability to make an impact. He has had a strong training camp, and after a quiet first preseason game, he really took a big leap forward in the team's second game, recording a sack against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If Heyward returns, and if Harmon's injury is not serious, the Steelers would have the potential to have a really strong defensive line with those two joining rising star Keeanu Benton. Right now, though, those are a lot of "ifs," especially as it relates to the availability for Heyward and Harmon for the team's season opener.
Bill Belichick takes another shot at Patriots owner Robert Kraft
It is no secret that the relationship between Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft has been strained since Belichick left the New England Patriots. Belichick took an obvious shot at Kraft and the Patriots owner's son, Jonathan, who is the president of the team, during an interview with Ben Volin of the Boston Globe that was published on Thursday. Belichick is preparing for his first-ever season as a college coach with North Carolina. When asked what he has noticed that is different about coaching in college versus the NFL, Belichick insinuated he has enjoyed not having to answer to any members of the Kraft family while doing his job in Chapel Hill. "It’s a much more cohesive, and I’d say unified, view of what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to do it," Belichick told Volin. "It’s a lot of football, and there’s not much in your way. "There’s no owner, there’s no owner’s son. There’s no cap, everything that goes with the marketing and everything else, which I’m all for that. But it’s way less of what it was at that level." Shots fired. There is no way to interpret that other than a criticism of Robert and Jonathan Kraft. Had Belichick left it at not having to answer to a team owner, you could make the case that he was speaking generally about the NFL. The fact that he added in "owner's son" makes it obvious he was referring to his old bosses, as both Robert and Jonathan are hands-on with the Patriots. Belichick is almost certainly bitter over the way his tenure in New England ended following the 2023 season. He coached the Patriots for 24 seasons and won six Super Bowls, so he likely felt he should have been given more time to turn things around in the post-Tom Brady era. The Kraft family preferred to move on after a 4-13 campaign. Though Belichick insists he is solely focused on the upcoming UNC season, this is not the first time in recent months that he has gone out of his way to throw a jab at Robert Kraft.
'Look out for this dude': Former NFL exec has warning about unexpected SEC quarterback
Blackhawks make gargantuan commitment to young forward
The Blackhawks have officially announced a seven-year extension for pending RFA forward Frank Nazar. The deal will pay him an AAV and cap hit of $6.59M for a total value of $46.13M. It’s a gargantuan commitment to the 21-year-old Nazar considering his lack of NHL experience. The 2022 No. 13 overall pick lands the richest total-value contract in league history for someone with 56 or fewer career appearances, which is Nazar’s tally entering the 2025-26 campaign. Nazar, who still has one year left on his entry-level contract before his extension will kick in for 2026-27, has yet to spend an entire season on the NHL roster. Last year was his first full run in the pros after two years at the University of Michigan, but he made his NHL debut in the final three games of 2023-24 after signing his ELC. He did not make the Blackhawks’ opening night roster but, after recording 11 goals and 24 points in 21 games for AHL Rockford, was recalled in mid-December shortly after Chicago’s coaching change and never looked back. He faltered out of the gate, recording only one assist and a -5 rating through his first 10 appearances while averaging 14:44 of ice time per game. But under interim head coach Anders Sörenson, who had overseen his early-season success in Rockford, he was extended some patience. That paid off in the long run as Nazar built confidence, including a four-game point streak in January and a run of nine points in eight games in April to end the season. All told, Nazar finished the season with a 12-14–26 scoring line 53 games — ninth on the team — and averaged nearly 16 minutes per game. While size concerns (5-foot-10, 190 pounds) created some detractors about his ability to hold down his natural center position in the NHL, he saw a fair amount of time as Chicago’s second-line middleman behind Connor Bedard. His most common deployment (107 minutes) amid an astronomical 91 different line combinations used by the Hawks last year was at 2C between Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teräväinen, although he did also see some time up on Bedard’s wing. Nazar was seen as a top-10 threat in the 2022 class, but after slipping to Chicago and missing most of his freshman year at Michigan due to injury, there were warranted doubts about his development path. He silenced them quickly with a point-per-game sophomore showing for the Wolverines and has made about as good an adjustment to pro hockey as can be expected, given the lack of quality veteran support on the Hawks’ NHL roster. A long-term bet at what’s even now a conservative second-line price point in 2025 could pay incredible dividends for the Blackhawks if he remains a long-term top-six piece, even if it’s on the wing, as the cap increases and they reward the other pieces of their young core with long-term deals. There’s also an incredible risk factor for someone still relatively early on their development track with less than a full season’s worth of NHL experience. The only recent comparable for someone with his experience is Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov, who signed a five-year, $45M contract after his rookie season (55 GP). Kaprizov, however, had far more professional experience after coming up through Russia’s KHL and was two years older than Nazar is now, making him a more projectable player. Kaprizov also took home the Calder Trophy that year and had twice the offensive output Nazar did. As such, the Blackhawks are betting hard on Nazar being a long-term solution, either as a wingman for Bedard or as a second-line center behind him. There’s certainly reason for optimism – he’s developed well and is coming off a spectacular World Championship showing with the United States that earned him a spot at their Olympic orientation camp. He’ll be under contract through the 2032-33 season and can walk to unrestricted free agency upon expiry. Getting Nazar’s extension out of the way now isn’t just about him, though. Chicago has two other big-ticket RFAs next summer — Bedard and new No. 1 goalie Spencer Knight — who will take serious resources to extend. They still have barely over $40M in allocated cap hits for 2026-27, though, leaving them with virtually unlimited spending power under a projected $104M cap. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet first reported the Blackhawks were signing Nazar to a seven-year extension. Bleacher Report’s Frank Seravalli reported a more accurate cap hit in the $6.6M range.
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