Born in Osasco, Brazil, Caboclo was raised in Barueri and Pirapora do Bom Jesus in the state of São Paulo. At age 13, he began playing basketball for Grêmio Recreativo Barueri, a social club that invites children from local public schools to play sports. In January 2013, Caboclo linked up with coach Rafael Franco at Score Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina. In his first game, against top-five-ranked junior college Vincennes University, the 6'9" forward with an almost 7'7" wingspan missed three-pointer after three-pointer. Coach Franco told Caboclo he had to be aggressive and had to rebound, and the scoring would come, and was temporarily banned from shooting threes.
Professional career
In April 2013, Caboclo returned to Brazil and signed with Pinheiros of the Novo Basquete Brasil. In 2013–14, he played 17 games, averaging 4.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. On June 26, 2014, Caboclo was selected with the 20th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors. During draft night, Caboclo was infamously reported by Fran Fraschilla during his selection that he was "two years away from being two years away." On July 9, 2014, he signed with the Raptors and joined them for the 2014 NBA Summer League. On November 21, 2014, he made his NBA debut against the Milwaukee Bucks. In 12 minutes of action, he recorded 8 points, 1 rebound and 1 block in the 124–83 win. On December 25, 2014, he was assigned to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League. He was recalled by the Raptors on January 1, 2015 after appearing in three games for the Mad Ants while averaging 4.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 13.0 minutes per game. He was reassigned to the Mad Ants on February 18, and recalled again on March 8. In July 2015, Caboclo re-joined the Raptors for the 2015 NBA Summer League. On September 29, 2015, the Raptors exercised their third-year team option on Caboclo's rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2016–17 season. During the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons, he had multiple assignments with Raptors 905 of the NBA Development League. In April 2017, Caboclo led Raptors 905 to the D-League Finals. In Game 3 of the series, Caboclo led the way with a game-high 31 points and 11 rebounds as Raptors 905 downed the Rio Grande Valley Vipers 122–96 to take the best-of-three series 2–1. On February 8, 2018, Caboclo was traded to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Malachi Richardson. On March 23, he was assigned to the Reno Bighorns, Sacramento's G League affiliate and recalled two days later. On August 20, 2018, Caboclo signed a training camp contract with the Houston Rockets. He was waived on October 13. He was then added to the training camp roster of the Rockets’ G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. On January 24, 2019, Caboclo signed with the Memphis Grizzlies on a 10-day contract. On February 3, 2019, Caboclo signed a second 10-day contract. On February 13, 2019, Caboclo signed a multi-year contract with the Grizzlies. On March 25 he recorded his first double-double and scored a career high 24 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Caboclo was assigned to the Memphis Hustle on January 13, 2020. On February 6, 2020, Caboclo was traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Jordan Bell.
