NBA Draft
Toronto Raptors Select Bruno Caboclo At No. 20
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
With the 20th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, the Toronto Raptors select Bruno Caboclo.
Not much is known about Caboclo at this point other than the fact that he is very, very raw. For the Raptors, the pick seems questionable because of the impending free agency of Kyle Lowry. Tyler Ennis was believed to be at the top of the draft board for the Raptors, but after being selected by the Phenoix Suns at No. 18, the Ontario native was no longer on the board.
Shabazz Napier was available at No. 20, but instead, general manager Masai Ujiri opted to go with an international prospect who is believed to be a few years away from being a regular contributor in the NBA. With any luck, Caboclo may end up being a productive NBA player like fellow countrymen Nene, Anderson Varejao and Leandro Barbosa.
At this point, with an overall dearth of information, Raptors fans must simply sit back and have faith in Ujiri, because there is little else that can be said about such a huge unknown at this point. What we do know of Caboclo is that he seems to have some raw talent and great length. According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Raptors promised to select Caboclo at No. 37, but for some reason, opted to instead use their 20th pick on him.
If nothing else, that is indicative of the Ujiri and his staff being really high on the Brazilian prospect.
