Queta’s combine performance muddied the waters of his draft decision

When Neemias Queta received his invite to the NBA Combine as part of a group of 66 athletes it was a good sign for his NBA ambitions. It meant Queta was on the radar of NBA teams and that his noteworthy freshman season at Utah State wasn’t being swept aside as a product of playing in a lower conference. The opportunity to show off at the combine meant Queta could improve his draft stock, potentially driving it into the end of the first round.

Unfortunately, Queta’s time in Chicago may have muddied the waters more than anything else. It cast doubt on his readiness to play in the Association in the upcoming season but clearly showed that the Portuguese big man is NBA material through and through.

Queta’s highlight of the weekend came when measurements of the 66 athletes were passed around to the scouts and media. During that stage, the 19-year old center out of Utah State stood out from (most) of the rest of the competition. Among all players measured, Queta ranked fourth in height (6’10.72″ without shoes and 7’0.25″ with), wingspan (7’4.25″), and standing reach (9’3.5″) while also recording the widest set of hands at 11 inches.

Neemias Queta's combine measurements

Height (w/shoes) – 7'0.25"
Height (w/o shoes) – 6'10.75"
Wingspan – 7'4.25"
Standing Reach – 9'3.5"
Hand Width – 11.0"
Weight – 225 lbs

— Jason Walker (@thejwalk67) May 16, 2019

The only player that really outdid Queta was UCF big Tacko Fall, who measured in at a staggering 7’7″ in shoes with an 8’2.25″ wingspan.

Then the rest of the combine happened, where Queta had to put those measurements to good use against the best of his college and international peers. Queta participated in two scrimmages which, while not disastrous, did expose some of his glaring weaknesses.

Queta’s first challenge was to face off against the man with the other-worldly length in Fall. And for being more than half a foot shorter and  60 pounds lighter than his foe, Queta played admirable defense on Fall, knocking away no less than three entry passes and only being scored on once while guarding him man-to-man. In his second scrimmage, Queta showed out well again defensively, blocking four shots in just over 19 minutes.

On the flip side of the floor, the offensive skills that led Queta to score nearly 12 points per game on 61.4 percent shooting at Utah State never materialized. In the two games combined, Queta made one field goal in seven attempts (14.3 percent), scoring just three points total. He was blocked on multiple attempts and just flat-out missed on a few others. It also didn’t help that in both outings Queta sported the worst plus/minus on his team (-16 in game one and -12 in game two).

That isn’t to say Queta’s time on the offensive side of the court was a complete mess. He set a lot of good screens and showed off some pick-and-roll actions that Utah State rarely ran with him. He also totaled five offensive rebounds. But aside from the team basketball that doesn’t show up well on a stat sheet, Queta had a very poor showing on offense.

Queta’s shortcomings during the scrimmages, that will also show up during future workouts, come from his highly unfortunate combination of small build and relatively slow movement. As a center — and a longer one at that — it’s understandable to see him slide in at the bottom in terms of quickness and athleticism, even with his fellow centers. His ranks among centers in agility times and vertical are almost a perfect inverse of his ranks in the height and length categories — a perfectly logical outcome. The twist comes with the fact that Queta was by far the lightest center there, tipping the scales at a very light 225.8 pounds.

Basically, while Queta has borderline elite length, even by NBA standards, he is saddled with the worst of both worlds in terms of the trade-off between size and speed. Bigger players aren’t as quick but can bully smaller opponents. Smaller opponents have the speed to outmaneuver bigger foes. Queta is too small to bang with the heavier bigs and too slow to keep up with the smaller ones.

There’s still time before the May 29 deadline for Queta to make his final decision to stay in college or pursue his professional dreams. And he’ll have opportunities to work out with several NBA teams in addition to his May 11 workout with the Utah Jazz. But what could make this decision excruciatingly hard is this question: Does Queta believe he can overcome his shortcomings in a short NBA window?

The chances of Queta missing out completely on the NBA are pretty low. Scouts and coaches know his potential and the increasing number of teams Queta is in contact with prove that interest league-wide has grown since the end of the NCAA season. At worst, he’ll go undrafted and be forced to get his foot in the door via the Summer League. More likely, a team will use a late second-round pick and try to develop him, probably through the G-League.

The problem with that path is the chances for success are very, very low. Second round picks have an extremely short shelf life. Most prospects in that range get one, maybe two chances to prove their viability in the league before being cast aside forever or wallowing in the depths of the G-League or on two-way contracts. Queta will have to capitalize on the one chance he gets, but if it comes and goes before he has time to build up his weaknesses, he’ll fall flat on his face and never get a legitimate chance to flaunt his obvious potential.

Going back to Utah State isn’t an option without its highly worrisome faults either. If Queta doesn’t significantly improve by this time next year, teams may simply pass on him in favor of younger, more flashy prospects. There’s no guarantee that his draft stock will go up even though some project Queta’s would skyrocket toward the lottery if he stayed in school. Add that paranoia to that the ever-present chance of injury and Queta is left with a very tough decision. One he will have to make in just over a week’s time.