BOSTON — Days after agreeing to terms with one center, the Celtics locked up another to a long-term extension.

Boston is signing big man Neemias Queta to a new four-year, $56 million contract, according to a report Friday from ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Between Queta and free agent pickup Mitchell Robinson, whose deal is worth $47.4 million over three years, the Celtics now have the heart of their frontcourt locked up for the foreseeable future — and at a reasonable price tag. Combined, the contracts have an average annual value of just under $30 million.

The Celtics picked up Queta’s $2.7 million team option for the upcoming season earlier this week. His extension will kick in in 2027-28.

Drafted in the second round by Sacramento in 2021, the 26-year-old 7-footer came to Boston on a two-way contract in 2023. He played his way into a standard NBA deal late in the 2023-24 season, appeared in 62 games as a fourth-stringer behind Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet in ’24-25, then was installed as Boston’s new full-time starter last offseason after Porzingis was traded and Horford and Kornet left in free agency.

Queta exceeded even his teammates’ expectations in that role. He appeared in 76 games with 75 starts, smashing his previous career highs in points (10.2 per game), rebounds (8.4), assists (1.7) and blocks (1.3) while shooting 65.3% from the field.

He ranked 12th in the NBA in blocked shots, posted the 12th-best plus/minus and finished fourth in Most Improved Player voting behind Atlanta’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Portland’s Deni Avdija and Detroit’s Jalen Duren.

“To me, (Queta’s emergence) has been the biggest surprise,” Horford, now with Golden State, told the Boston Herald in February. “And I don’t mean it in a bad way. It’s in a very good way. But it’s a lot of responsibility to be a starting center, to play those type of minutes, everything that it requires. Neemi really worked in the offseason, and they figured it out over there. And he’s — he’s just been really good. He’s been consistent. He’s been helping them win.

“I’m not looking even at the numbers; I just look at results, and the fact that he’s having an impact and he’s doing those things, I’m just very proud of him when I see that. Because he’s a good person, he’s a hard worker, and he’s put himself in this position.”

Queta’s breakout hit a roadblock once the playoffs began. He struggled to stay out of foul trouble in Boston’s first-round series loss to Philadelphia, limiting his availability as the Celtics were upset in seven games.

After the early exit, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said the Celtics would prioritize improving their frontcourt this offseason, and they did so by landing Robinson, a standout defender and extraordinary rebounder who is coming off a championship run with the New York Knicks.

But Queta’s new contract shows that the team still views him as an important part of its core. It is not yet clear how head coach Joe Mazzulla plans to deploy his two starting-caliber 7-footers this coming season.

Luka Garza, second-year pro Amari Williams and first-round draft pick Chris Cenac Jr. round out Boston’s stable of big men.

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