Remember when Bruno Caboclo was “two years away from being two years away”?
Well, perhaps, finally, his time is now — at least when it comes to international basketball.
The former first-round pick of the Toronto Raptors scored a game-high 25 points and added nine rebounds as Brazil beat Montenegro 81-72 in the opening game of an Olympic qualifying tournament on Tuesday in Riga, Latvia.
Caboclo was 12-of-16 from the field as Brazil began its quest to earn one of the final four berths in Paris later this summer. Brazil trailed by as many as 13 before taking the lead for the first time early in the fourth quarter.
The six-foot-nine forward, picked 20th overall by the Raptors in 2014, has been out of the NBA since he was waived by the Houston Rockets in 2021. He has 105 career NBA games on his resume, averaging 4.2 points in that time.
Caboclo now plays professionally in Serbia.
The winners of six-team qualifying tournaments this week in Latvia, Greece, Puerto Rico and Spain will determine the four final spots in the 12-team Olympic field.
World No. 12 Brazil likely will have to overcome No. 6 Latvia on its home floor to earn an Olympic spot.
The qualifying results are important for Canada, which is in a group with Australia and the winners of the Greece and Spain tourneys in France.
