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Bruno Caboclo’s NBA Development

By Kevin Nimmock

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Bruno Caboclo has now played one season in the NBA. Well, sort of. Last year’s 20th overall pick only played in eight games, averaging 2.8 minutes. He was used in garbage time during blowout wins or losses. For the young Brazilian, most of his learning came off the court.

Recently, Holly MacKenzie of Raptors.com shared what an average game-day looked like this season for Caboclo. The report shows that there are a lot of positive outcomes to look for from the 19-year-old as he starts his sophomore season in October. According to MacKenzie, Caboclo seems to have a great attitude and work ethnic, which will help to speed up his development.

According to GM Masai Ujiri, one of the biggest goals for Caboclo this year was to learn english. Caboclo began to adjust to North America, picking up coloquial phrases and bonding with his teammates. His english has come a long way, considering he needed a translator to communicate with the media at the start of the season. Check out this video of Caboclo interviewing fellow Brazilian Lucas Noguiera in February.

During his end-of-year press conference, Ujiri said that Caboclo had gone from 207 to 221 pounds throughout the season. This impressive growth came along with less obvious improvements, earned during rigorous daily training activities. All season, Caboclo worked closely with assistant coach Jama Mahlalela, who was in charge of helping the rookie adjust to the NBA.

According to MacKenzie, Caboclo would arrive to work to work on his skills at noon, four hours before him teammates showed up for pre-game walkthroughs. His work would include ballhandling, shooting and rebounding with Mahlalela. Then, he would do individual work at 3:30 p.m. Halfway through the season, Caboclo was joined by veteran James Johnson.

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Johnson and Caboclo would play one-on-one together, which was hugely beneficial to Caboclo in a couple of ways. First, Johnson is a strong defender, forcing Caboclo to work hard to learn to score. Second, Johnson is a player who has really matured recently from his early days in the NBA. He could teach Caboclo how to handle the world of basketball’s best league.

At 5 p.m., Caboclo would work with strength coach Johnny Lee and director of sports science Alex McKechnie on conditioning and strength training. Then, Caboclo would normally put on a suit to watch games from the bench with his teammates. Finally, Caboclo and Johnson would come back to the court after games to compete once again

“He’s only 18, 19, but he works out every day, he trains every day and works like he’s been in the league for years,” Johnson said. “That’s a credit to his professional team back home where he’s from. Not a lot of U.S. kids get that opportunity. He was already a pro. He already has the mindset of a pro.”

While Caboclo’s work went mostly unnoticed to fans this season, it should have a big impact on how he performs next year. It looks like he is far more NBA ready, learning the language, the skills and the mentality of how to succeed.

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