Vitor Faverani returns to Boston

Just in case you don't have the Vitor Faverani app, El Hombre Indestructible posted the picture below at the airport today that read "Panama city... back to boston."



While we didn't get to see too much of Vitor during his rookie season due to a knee injury, Danny Ainge has stated that "Vitor has proven he can play a role for us," although Ainge said would also like to acquire an additional rim protector. Faverani is currently on a 3 year/$6.18 million contract ($4 million guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $2,060,000).

ESPN Boston did an interesting breakdown yesterday about the poor rim protection by the Celtics' bigs this season, and Faverani actually ranked best, albeit he had limited appearances to go by:

How poor was Boston's rim protection? The NBA utilizes player tracking data to define "rim protection" as "the defender being within five feet of the basket and within five feet of the offensive player attempting the shot." Crunch the numbers for opponent field goal percentage for every player in the NBA that appeared in at least half (41) of their team's games and the first Celtics player doesn't appear until No. 116 in Kris Humphries, who limited opponents to 50.8 percent shooting near the rim.

Boston's other bigs? Jared Sullinger lands at 198th (53.9), Brandon Bass spots at 202nd (54.1), and Kelly Olynyk finished 257th (56.3). Rookie Vitor Faverani actually had the best number (46.1) over 37 appearances, which would have ranked him 31st overall (albeit in limited per-game reps). 

Hopefully Vitor's knee rehab has gone well and he is ready to continue and improve upon the role he played for the Celtics in his rookie season. Perhaps he can continue serving as a rim protector, along with some help that Ainge might acquire through free agency, trade, or the draft.