Bologna –
Inside the market bullfight Virtus snatches a new piece for its colorful area. He is Devontae Cacok, 26-year-old from Chicago with a Jamaican passport, unheard of in our league and with only one European interlude behind him last season at CSKA Moscow after having more than impressed in the G-League.
A modern, pick-and-roll-loving long man, his 203 cm more physical than vertical have in offensive rebounding his favorite hunting ground since his 2019 release from UNC Wilmington College, which allowed him to even taste the glory of the NBA title in Los Angeles in 2020. A 21-game stint with the Lakers between 2019 and 2021, 15 with the Spurs in 2021-22, decisive in the improvement of his game inside the colored area, especially in the central area of the offense, pairing almost ideally with department mates capable of hitting from long distance.
The years in the G-League, those useful instead in improving defensive help on the perimeter, definitely formed him all-around. In addition to his yellow-violet ring, Cacok was named CAA Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2017, earned first-team all-conference honors in both 2018 and 2019, and was the 2018 NCAA’s top rebounder. Cacok, after a summer spent in the gym, arrives in Bologna to bring energy near the iron and pliability on both ends of the court, taking advantage of his low center of gravity and foot speed, a trait that could create him an advantage over role pars both offensively and defensively.
(Photo CSKA)
