WALTHAM — Vitor Faverani said Saturday he still has no idea when he will return to the Celtics' lineup after missing the past nine months following separate knee surgeries.
Faverani, once projected to be the team's starting center, spoke to reporters for the first time since a second left knee surgery last month. Faverani said he hasn't played basketball since tearing his left meniscus during an NBA D-League appearance in February.
The Celtics held on to Faverani after speculation they might waive him and instead traded Joel Anthony to Detroit for Will Bynum, who was waived. But the organization has gotten little return out of Faverani since signing him from his Spanish League team in July 2013.
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Faverani underwent surgery in Spain and returned to Boston last month, but he doesn't appear close to even practicing.
"I don't know," Faverani said when asked when he would return. "It depends on my knee. We work hard every day to get better, so no pain. I'm happy. I think it's progressing very good."
He added: "I can't do anything on the court now. So we work on the pool a lot, work in the gym, that's all I can do now."
Faverani played in 37 games as a rookie, averaging 4.4 points and 3.5 rebounds. When he lost his spot in the rotation, he was sent to Maine of the NBA D-League and there he injured his left knee.
Faverani, believed to be healthy, reported to training camp expected to compete for playing time, but he complained of soreness and underwent a second surgery Oct. 13 to clean up loose bodies.
He was expected miss 6-8 weeks, but nearly six weeks later, Faverani said he hadn't done any basketball activity.
"It's hard; it's my life," he said. "This is my first injury. I'm just happy because we have great doctors, great therapy guys, and I'm just trying to get better. I worked really hard all summer and came back here and got injured one more time. All I can do is recover. We'll just wait on my knee."
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The Celtics need help in the interior, and though Faverani is not a physical center, coach Brad Stevens could use another body to defend centers.
"I could help my team, help my teammates with rebounding, defense," he said. "Put in some good pick-and-rolls. I know it's not easy [to get time] because the big men play very well right now, but just do my job."
Defense lacking
The Celtics enter Sunday's game with the Portland Trail Blazers at TD Garden ranked 28th in the league in points allowed at 108.4. They have allowed 100 or more points in nine of their 11 games, including 117 in Friday's loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Boston has had no issue scoring this season — fourth in the league at 106.2 — but the club realizes it will continue to lose unless it gets consistent defensive stops.
"I don't see any problem for us offensively right now," guard Rajon Rondo said. "It's a game of runs and, on the defensive end of the floor, we're giving up 100 points almost maybe every game this year. We can talk about offense all day long, but until we bring some stops together it's going to be tough every night."
Smart counted out
Guard Marcus Smart, who sprained his left ankle on Nov. 7, did not participate in any practice drills Saturday, and Stevens counted him out for the Portland game.
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The Celtics will take Monday and Tuesday off during a four-day break before returning to practice Wednesday.
Smart could make his return Friday against Chicago.
Blazers are hot
The Trail Blazers have won six consecutive games and begin a treacherous final three games of November. The Celtics play Chicago on Friday and San Antonio on Sunday. Stevens compared Portland All-Star center LaMarcus Aldridge with Memphis's Marc Gasol, but he brings different challenges.
"We have to be great against them to have a chance against them," Stevens said. "Aldridge has some of the things Gasol does, but he is his own player and has his own uniqueness. He's not their only All-Star. They've got guys in [Wesley] Matthews and [Nicolas] Batum that are great shooters as well."
Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @GwashburnGlobe.