Even after stealing Mitchell Robinson away from the New York Knicks this offseason, the Boston Celtics should start Neemias Queta at center. This is their best option to continue working on Queta's development, and Robinson was a fantastic backup during his time in New York, especially during the team's latest championship run.
Starting Neemias Queta gives him the best chance to develop in Boston
It's clear that the Celtics like Queta. They took a chance on him when the Sacramento Kings waived him in 2023 (to make room for JaVale McGee, by the way). They named him the starting center after last year's departures of Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet, despite him having just six career starts at center. And they just signed him to a new deal this summer.
The Portuguese native is fresh off a career year (10.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.3 blocks on 65.3 FG% in 76 games), and the fact that he was clearly better by the end of the regular season than he was at the beginning of the season should give fans reason to think he will be even better next season (even if he struggled in the playoffs).
Queta just turned 27 years old and still has a lot of good basketball left in him. He might not be the Celtics' long-term answer at center, but he at least deserves another year to prove that he also might be. There's a lot to like about what he showed last year (underrated post-up package, tenacious rebounder, free-safety-type defensive play, and improved positioning), and giving him as many opportunities to be on the court next season should help his game more than anything.
Mitchell Robinson has excelled as a backup center before
Robinson finished eighth in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season and was a fantastic backup to Karl-Anthony Towns in New York. He made a huge impact coming off the bench because of his rebounding, physicality, and defense, and he made life difficult for guys like Victor Wembanyama and Joel Embiid.
The Florida native doesn't need to start games or even play 20 minutes a night to make an impact. In fact, giving him this big a role might do more harm than good. He has a lot of offensive limitations (Celtics fans should remember Hack-a-Mitch), he has durability concerns (he has played 70+ games in a season once and played 48 games total in his last two seasons prior to 2025-26), and his physicality can often put him in foul trouble.
Robinson is at his best when he is a backup center, even though he is definitely good enough to start. The Celtics have a very intriguing center room next year (we can't forget about Luka Garza either, who is fresh off a career year), and if done right, it could be one of their biggest strengths.
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