Breakout Year for Boucher?
Chris Boucher with the Raptors Summer League team
The Raptors are still celebrating their first ever championship, but things are about to shake up in the 6ix after Kawhi went out West. The team is pretty much still intact, but there’s a big gap that needs to get filled. Can Chris Boucher be the one to do so?
Fresh off an NBA championship, NBA G-League MVP & Defensive Player of The Year (first ever player to win both in one season), and NBA Summer League Second Team it’s clear Boucher proved his strides and showed he’s deserving of more minutes this upcoming season. He averaged 27.2 points, 11.4 rebounds and 4.1 blocked shots on 51% from the field in 28 games with the Raptors 905. All you have to do is watch a few of his highlights to see how he looked like a man amongst boys. It was almost close to unfair. There shouldn’t be any doubts about his skills at this point and he proved it once more in Vegas in the Summer League. He put up an impressive 23 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game stat line.
The Raptors converted his two-way contract to a standard one earlier in February and that can only mean Masai Ujuri and the rest of the organization sees something in him. Why not play him more this year? He’s a stretch big that can take some of the load of veterans Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol on both ends of the floor, he versatile enough to share the floor with Pascal Siakam in the frontcourt, and he can run the floor in the fast pace system that Nick Nurse has set in place. He fills a lot of gaps that Toronto needs in pretty much all aspects of the game. One of the only concerns would be his size at his position which is something he must work on, however the game speaks for itself.
Chris Boucher at Raptors Parade
In the meantime, while he prepares for training camp for Canada’s senior team starting on August 4th ahead of the 2019 FIBA World Cup, he took time to bring the Larry O’Brian trophy back to Montreal. He’ll have a trophy presentation and take pictures with fans at Parc Le Carignan in Montréal-Nord at 12PM, Centre Lasallien (private event) at 3PM, and Parc Champdoré at 6PM on July 26th.