“Two years away from being two years away.” That’s how ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla labelled Bruno Caboclo when the Toronto Raptors shocked the basketball world and drafted the lanky Brazilian 20th in the 2014 NBA draft. Raptors GM Masai Ujiri actually didn’t take offence to what many perceived as criticism but rather said, “I wish I would have thought of that line”.
Yet few people remember the quote Fraschilla said before that: “This is the all-time swing for the fences pick.”
It’s debatable how far away Caboclo is on the court, but in his second summer league experience he’s made light years of progression both culturally and emotionally. He’s developing an old-school nothing-but-business demeanor, mainly because he’s been around the business of being a professional for a year. And he’s been taking notes.
Unlike many international first round picks like Jonas Valanciunas, Caboclo wasn’t stashed in a lower league before making the transition to the NBA. Instead the Raptors staff thought it was best to rip the band-aid off right away and have him immersed in North American culture and NBA life to fast track his assimilation process. Caboclo’s familiarity with the NBA was limited, as his family didn’t have cable in their unfinished Pirapora do Bom Jesus home, so all he knew was the YouTube clips of Kevin Durant he patterned his game after. So far it has worked out for the man announcers call “the Brazilian KD.”
Much of the English he’s learned has been away from the ACC. Whether it’s hanging out at Ryerson and working out with Roy Rana and his Rams men’s basketball team— closer in age and maturity level than most of his Raptors teammates— or watching TV in his condo to pass the idle time away from friends and family in Brazil. Even late nights Karaoke singing sessions with teammate and fellow Brazilian Bebe Nogueira has helped him learn the language.
When I complemented him on how far his English had come he sheepishly smiled and bowed his head. Although he’s more comfortable with the vocabulary, he’s still shy. He is starting to gain confidence and a sense of added calm. “Before I was shy to make mistakes so I didn’t want to talk much,” Caboclo says. “Now I can joke with my teammates so I feel like I know them better.”
But he undoubtedly knows the game better. Simple rotation calls, defensive alerts, even feedback and warnings from referees; all was lost on Bruno a year ago. The game was going so fast there was no time to comprehend the on court conversations. “I didn’t understand,” he says, “and then I get down on myself. Everybody encourages me so I work hard and pick my head up. This year I encourage others.”
What gets lost when people try to project when Ujiri’s home run swing might clear the fence is how much Caboclo is asked to overcome on the way to becoming a rotation player, never mind a great player. After being plucked from the jungle in Brazil Caboclo was dropped into the fourth largest city in North America, jumping up to the highest level of basketball in the world, unable to speak the native language, and still just as a teenager.
He’s a rare breed, and that’s what the Raptors believe makes him so special; as much as a jewel as he is physically, he is equally, if not more, gifted mentally. They are trying to fast track his development with three workouts a day across an almost 12-hour span.
The job of all organizations is to exploit market inefficiencies. One of which in the NBA is international scouting, as all teams apply a different amount of resources to it. The playing field in Europe is now mostly level given the success of players like Dirk Nowitzki, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. But South America is a largely untapped market, and Africa is the wild, wild west. Ujiri, with his long relationship furthering the Basketball Without Borders campaign, has a direct line of intel in the global game and when Caboclo was named Basketball Without borders MVP, Ujiri’s staff was already on the trail.
In the Ujiri era, the Raptors have made a point of exploiting internal basketball development. It’s tough to raise a young NBA player in today’s league with limited practice time and even shorter tenured contracts. Many players get lost in the shuffle as the dog eat dog nature of the league means the weak get cast to the side and organizations devour their young trying to eek out every solitary victory.
Ujiri feels his team’s developmental intent will separate them from competition. They’re in the process of building a state of the art practice and training centre where both rehab and pre-hab will take place.
The MLSE ownership umbrella means the various organizations can share findings and best practices around player development. Both Toronto FC and the Maple Leafs have feeder systems with TFC 2 and the Marlies, respectively, and now the same is true for the Raptors.
The D-League’s Raptors 905 club will allow Caboclo and others to get positive reinforcement by experiencing in-game success. Last year, when he was sent to the Fort Wayne Ants, Caboclo’s development wasn’t a priority and he didn’t know his teammates or the system. “It was frustrating,” says Caboclo, “as I sit on the bench and I thought I was going to play. The second time they talk to me and I understand so I just try to learn from the bench.”
Instead of taking a broken athlete from the AAU or NCAA system and fixing bad habits hoping the player will translate to the NBA the Raptors have decided to cultivate the asset on their own. Raptors 905 will be the petri dish of discovery and Caboclo is Frankenstein’s monster.
The plan for Caboclo has been laid out and it’s one he loves. He will play with 905 at home, and for the most part join the Raptors while they’re in Toronto. “I think it will be good for me,” he says.
Caboclo could be the NBA’s first truly bespoke superstar, tailor-made to the liking of the man who put his neck out to draft him. Yet the numbers that will determine his success won’t just be the 6-foot-9 body that carries with it a 7-foot-2 wingspan. Next season, while donning a Raptors 905 jersey, It will be improving upon the 23 minutes he played in the NBA last year to something closer to the 29 minutes he played per game in the summer league. Last year, you could count the amount of words that Caboclo knew. Now? He’s telling anyone who will listen he wants to be counted on. It’s the biggest indication the baby-faced Brazilian isn’t just a cute fan favourite. Bruno Caboclo means business.
