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Brazil's #51 Bruno Caboclo goes to the basket past Germany's #10 Daniel Theis in the men's preliminary round group B basketball match between Brazil and Germany during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, northern France, on July 30, 2024. (Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP via Getty Images)

Upon his being selected 20th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors, young Brazilian frontcourt-player-of-indeterminate-position Bruno Caboclo was immediately coined with the kind of nickname no one wants.

As grainy workout footage (the only footage available in the absence of any meaningful game time anywhere in any league) was quickly dug out and run by ESPN to supplement the pick, analyst Fran Fraschilla concisely described his and everyone’s surprise at Caboclo’s selection, by describing Bruno as being “two years away from being two years away”. By that, Fraschilla simply meant, Caboclo was going to be one of the projectiest projects to ever be projected. Don’t expect much, basically, and certainly not any time soon.

That four-year timeline, of course, is long behind us now. It has been twelve years since Caboclo was introduced to audiences who were told they had to wait a long time for anything to come of that introduction; indeed, Caboclo is now in his 30s. But the good news is, he has also become one of the best role players in the EuroLeague – albeit in a typically unique way.

Bruno Caboclo’s Remarkable Efficiency

Playing for Dubai Basketball – which corporate interests have determined qualify for intracontinental European basketball competition these days – Caboclo has pulled off the dream of all working actors. In only a small amount of game time, he makes about as big of an impact as it is possible to make. He is Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs, Matthew McConaghey in The Wolf of Wall Street, Rik Mayall’s Lord Flashheart.

In 22 games this season across all competitions, the 6’9 Caboclo is shooting 68.0% from the field, including an astounding 74.2% from three-point range. The sample size behind that percentage from range is not enormous, because of course it isn’t. But with a 23-31 three-point shooting slip on the season, nor it is it tiny. And nor is it entirely anomalous – Caboclo shot 49.3% and 41.7% from three-point range over the last two seasons respectively, with the catch-and-shoot looks being the majority of his offense outside of the dunks.

Caboclo has played only 12.7 minutes per game in EuroLeague play, because lifelong chronic foul problems (2.9 per game) prevent him from ever getting much more than that. But in that time, he scores 6.3 points per game, alongside 3.1 rebounds, 0.7 blocks and unbelievable efficiency. To that end, Caboclo’s offensive rating of 153.9 leads the competition, and his net rating of +37 is fourth.

For context, Nikola Jokic – three-time MVP because of his offensive excellence and the NBA’s leader in this category among qualified players – came in at 133.6 this past season. While their usage is very different – very different, to the point of being complete opposites – the Brazilian’s efficiency is almost unrivalled. Caboclo’s true shooting percentage of .847 is somehow still only second in the competition – former Charlotte Hornets dunker Kai Jones leads at .900, having shot 120-127 on the year for an unfathomable .945% field goal mark – yet Caboclo is doing it from both close in and afar. None do it quite like he does.

He Was Indeed Two Years Away From Being Two Years Away

Dubai play in only the EuroLeague and Adriatic League competitions, which are both meaningful ones, the EuroLeague being the best non-NBA club competition in the world. Within it, Caboclo is a role player not a star; a finisher not a creator; an athlete not a dribbler. But he has learned over the past decade plus how to maximize those talents.

In the three and a half years he would ultimately spend with the Raptors, Caboclo would only play 103 minutes, while being assigned to the G League an incredible 62 times. Fraschilla warned of the need for development time, but even this heads-up did not fully describe how invisible of a man Caboclo would go on to be. Nevertheless, subsequent NBA stints with the Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets eventually play 105 NBA games over seven seasons, including peaking with a 23.5 minute per game average over a half season with the Grizzlies in 2018-19. Fraschilla was right, albeit briefly.

Since that time, Caboclo has travelled the globe, spending time in France, Germany, Serbia, Israel and his native Brazil before joining Dubai for 2025-26. With each passing year, he gets more efficient and more seasoned, not diversifying his skill base but getting better at the deployment thereof. Caboclo has never had the ball skills or defensive consistency to level up beyond being an eye-catching role player. But neither did Rik Mayall have the range to play the romantic lead in a period costume drama. It is is all about how good you can be at what you do best.