Bruno Caboclo will be returning to the Grizzlies next season, barring some kind of theoretical off-season trade that would alienate every Grizzlies fan were it to happen. The fact that he’s returning is good news both for Bruno (he’s coming back to a place he’s familiar with) and for the Grizzlies (they get to benefit as the team who gave Bruno another chance) and for me (there should be ample minutes for him to generate highlight-worthy performances) and for Brazilians (Bruno in the G-League is just not the same as Bruno in the NBA).
I don’t even know what the plan is for the Grizzlies next season. Whatever the plan is, and whether its written on a writeboard somewhere or in the GM’s email drafts folder, it probably includes Mike Conley. And Jonas Valanciumas. And Bruno Caboclo. Besides that, I don’t know what they’re gonna do. Tank? Push for the playoffs and be mediocre? Relocate to Swaziland? What they SHOULD do is feature Caboclo more in the offense, see if he can improve on the high note he ended this season on. Just tell him to handle the ball more and look for his shots. That strategy worked for Giannis and it worked for Pascal Siakam, so it should definitely work with other lanky, skilled foreign players as well.
If anybody watched the antics of either team immediately after the final buzzer sounded, can you tell me if Kevin Durant personally gave advice to Bruno or if they didn’t talk at all? For the Brazilian KD to get advice from the American KD would be like the ultimate symbolism. It would be like the passing of the torch. So many metaphors could be made from it. Somebody please tell me it happened, and if it didn’t, lie to me and tell me it did. Tell me they hugged and whispered things to each other.