Neemias Queta Deserves The NBA Audition He Is Not Currently Getting

The Sacramento Kings are having their best season for a generation. Begrudging owners of what had been by far the longest current playoff-less streak in the NBA – out of the postseason since the 2005/06 season, a 17-year streak ten years longer than the Charlotte Hornets in second place, and only winning more than 33 games twice in that time – they have ended that streak in some style.

Already with 46 wins this season, the Kings find themselves in the provisional third seed in the Western Conference, and with a comfortable five game lead at the time of writing over the Phoenix Suns in fourth. They are a full seven and a half games up on the Minnesota Timberwolves in eighth, and their 46-30 pace after 76 games far outstrips the 27-49 pace they were playing at come the same point last season.

They are going back to the playoffs. It is now just a question of whether they are seeded second or third.

At the crux of this reinvention has been substantial offensive improvements. Last year’s Kings ranked a lowly 25th in the NBA in offensive rating, yet in 2022/23, they are ranked first. Behind that reformation has been some key additions in the forms of sweet-shooting rookie Keegan Murray and a career-best season from the still-only-25 Malik Monk, as well as of course the dominance on the interior of All-Star Lithuanian big man Domantas Sabonis. These additions in turn have rejuvenated the performances of incumbent veterans De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes; with six players averaging in double figures on the season, including 25.6 points per game from Fox, it is an unrecognisable Sacramento Kings offensive unit from last season.

That said, the defence could certainly still use a boost.

For all the well-earned good vibes around the franchise right now, the defence still ranks a lowly 24th on the season, and since the start of February, it is even worse – 27th, or fourth-last. This is not usually something becoming of one of the best teams in the NBA, which, otherwise, the Kings have been.

With only six games left in the season, there is not a huge amount of time left to do much about that. The roster is essentially set, the rotation solidified, the playbook written. Warts and all, this is the defensive line-up that the Kings are going to battle with, and they will have to plain outscore their opponents come playoff time.

Perhaps, though, there is scope over these final few regular season games to give a meaningful run-out to one of their better defensive prospects.

Portuguese centre Neemias Queta is about to complete his second full season with the Kings, yet in nearly two full calendar years, he has still barely yet to feature. In bit-part minutes of 19 games, he has totalled only 144 NBA minutes, almost all of which came in garbage time, and of which only 24 came this season. Instead, he has been down in the G-League on a two-way contract. And in his two years down there, he has done about as much as can be done.

In 29 games with the Stockton Kings this season, Queta has averaged 16.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.9 rebounds per game. He has shot 68.5% from the field and 80.3% from the line for a staggering .759% true shooting percentage, and although the allure of him potentially adding some floor-stretching ability (as alluded to in his summer league performances) has proven entirely premature, he has nevertheless been hugely effective in a more conventional centre role.

As a defender in the paint, Queta exhibits good reads and better timing. Standing 7’0 tall and weighing 245lbs, he has ideal size for the NBA centre spot, and while he does not step up to the perimeter all that well given that size, when he stays back, the lane is his. Queta is always a presence in there, standing tall and contesting anyone driving at him, making fewer mistakes than the foul rates imply. And although his offensive game is not quite as developed, his size, decent footwork, touch, efficient free throw shooting and modicum of vertical spacing make him a viable option to roll, catch, finish and tidy up.

Indeed, at this point, there seems little else that Queta can prove. At the G-League level, while the scoring profile is still somewhat limited and the foul rates somewhat high, these will not matter too much in an NBA reserve role. After all, they have not held back Walker Kessler.

Despite being a starter for the Kings for the last three years, Richaun Holmes was moved to a bench role this season, appearing in only 320 minutes all season. The Kings clearly decided he was not the defensive anchor at the centre spot that they needed. Similarly, Alex Len has barely got off the bench, playing a meagre 81 minutes all season and mostly just spending them fouling. Chimezie Metu plays, but is better offensively, and for all of Sabonis’s offensive majesty, him playing the centre spot is a large part of the reason for the leaky lane the Kings give up every night.

Trey Lyles certainly is not the defensive answer either. So at this point, for one week at least, why not set Queta free?