Many fans of the Boston Celtics were excited by the news of Brazilian forward Bruno Caboclo joining the team in the offseason on a training camp deal, hopeful the Osasco native might make the team as a potential depth option. Ultimately, the team would go in a different direction to solidify their roster for the 2022-23 NBA season, but it might not be the last time you hear Caboclo’s name connected to the Celtics.
Currently playing for the G League’s Mexico City Capitanes, the 6-foot-9 combo forward hopes to leverage a resurgent interest in big men in the league and his positional flexibility to find his way back to the NBA, whether with Boston or some other ball club.
Ahead of his season opener on Nov. 6 with the Capitanes, the Celtics Wire caught up with Caboclo to talk about his time in Boston, what brought him to Mexico, and more.
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Boston, according to Caboclo, was being very particular with the sort of player they were after at camp this summer. “I think they needed a player with some of the characteristics that I have,” he explained.
“So, I think they gave me a try, they were looking at me for a bit. When I went there, I thought I did very well.”
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“When they waived me, they said they really liked me a lot,” continued Caboclo. “But (they) were really looking for a particular player form for my position.”
“They said they’d keep an eye on me, but at that time, it wasn’t the position for me.” Part of the attraction for bringing on the Brazilian big man has been his improved outside shooting.
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“I’ve always shot the 3,” he related. “Ever since I started playing basketball. Even before the bigs became (the ready-to-shoot sort in) small ball, everybody (was) loving shooting the 3, even the bigs are going to shoot it.”
“You actually get pretty good at it. (For) a great part of my career, I played as a small forward; when I got drafted, I was drafted as a small forward — I was a small forward for like two years. But because I’m tall, and I was still growing, they moved me to the four, (I was tall) enough to be playing as a five.”
“But I always had my game as a small forward, to drive to the basket if they give me space or shoot the 3,” Caboclo explained.
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“I think I’m good shooting the 3-ball; I don’t know if I should shoot more or less, but if I’m open, I’m going to shoot it,” said Caboclo with a slight grin. In his last stop, playing for Limoges CSP in France’s LNB Pro A league, that was usually the right call given he connected on 44.8% of his treys.
“I’ll do whatever the game gives to me,” he suggested.
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Now with the Capitanes to continue developing his game within the wider NBA ecosystem as part of a team with a shared, intense work ethic, Caboclo revealed he actually met one of his teammates on the Capitanes in Boston.
“I think the Capitanes are good for players with different backgrounds like Jahlil Okafor and Shabazz Napier. The only one I didn’t know was Jahlil Okafor, but he was on the training camp with Boston for a bit, so I met him first there.”
“We work hard together, we get better together,” he added.
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— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) November 2, 2022
Caboclo’s season with the Capitanes kicks off on Nov. 6 in Mexico City as they take on the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (the Houston Rockets G League affiliate) and Willie Caulie-Stein.
He will do it alongside fellow former NBAers Okafor, Napier, Gary Clark, Alfonso McKinnie, and Mason Jones as well as some of the best players in Latin America.
Some of them may find themselves playing in the NBA by season’s end. One of them — perhaps Caboclo, or fellow Celtics camp invitee Jahlil Okafor — may even end up doing so in Boston.
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— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) November 1, 2022
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