Per ESPN.com, “Chris Boucher is returning to the Toronto Raptors on a three-year, $35.25 million deal, his agent Sam Permut of Roc Nation Sports told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday. Boucher enjoyed the healthiest season of his career last year, playing in 80 games after failing to clear more than 62 in each of the last two seasons.”
Tag: chris boucher
Raptors forward Chris Boucher out with knee sprain
Toronto Raptors forward Chris Boucher has sustained a sprained MCL in his left knee. The injury occurred in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s victory over Brooklyn.
Boucher will be out until the team departs for an upcoming West Coast trip (Apr. 29 – May 4) and his condition will then be updated as appropriate.
Boucher is averaging career highs of 13.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.9 blocks (fifth in the NBA) and 24.0 minutes in 59 games (13 starts) this season. He is shooting .519 (283-545) from the field, including .389 (88-226) from three-point range.
Chris Boucher puts up a 38-point, 19-rebound game
Raptors forward/center Chris Boucher continues to show signs of huge talent, while mostly coming off the bench this season. On Thursday, he started, and put up a monster game. Via the Toronto Star:
Chris Boucher played a game that was better statistically than any ever before by a Raptors big man.
Better by numbers than anything Chris Bosh ever did, or Pascal Siakam, or Antonio Davis, or Jonas Valanciunas, or any of the many other frontcourt players — good and bad — in the first 2,044 games of the franchise’s existence.
It was a wonderful night: 38 points and 19 rebounds in a loss to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, one rebound shy of the first 30-20 game ever by a Raptor and the first time anyone has reached those numbers in the same game.
There have been better scoring nights — the list of 40-plus games runs the gamut from Acie Earl to Andrea Bargnani to Bosh, who did it nine times.
And there have been better rebounding nights up front — Bismack Biyombo once had 25; Bosh went over 20 twice, as did Valanciunas; Donyell Marshall had 24; Joey Dorsey once grabbed 20.
But never before had anyone put up 38 and 19, and for that Boucher should praised and held in high regard.
The Raptors are just 20-32 this season, which is the 11th best record in the Eastern conference.
Boucher is averaging 13.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 23.6 minutes per game.
Kyle Lowry hits game-winner for Raptors over Hornets
The Raptors aren’t off to a great start so far this season, but last night they beat the Hornets despite three Charlotte players putting up 20 or more points. Via the Toronto Star:
The Raptors knew they were going to get a ton of three-point attempts on Saturday night. The Charlotte Hornets play a lot of zone defence that creates those opportunities.
And it was a long two-pointer that was the biggest bucket of the night.
Kyle Lowry made a step-back 18-footer with just over 30 seconds to go for the game-winning basket, allowing the Raptors to post a 116-113 win over Charlotte, their second in three nights in Tampa.
Toronto stayed in the game with some of their best three-point shooting of the season. Despite droughts to start the game and open the second half, the Raptors made 21 on the night.
In the win, Chris Boucher came off the bench and put up 20 points, nine assists and two blocks on just seven field goal attempts. He’s been a standout so far this season and the story of the season for Toronto.
Raptors re-sign forward Chris Boucher
The Toronto Raptors yesterday re-signed Chris Boucher.
Boucher’s Raptors contract is reportedly a two-year, $13.5 million deal. The second year is reportedly not fully guaranteed.
The 6-foot-10, 200-pound forward averaged 6.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, a team-high 1.0 blocks and 13.2 minutes in 62 games last season. He shot 47.2% FG, 32.2% from three-point range, and 78.4% from the free throw line.
Per the Toronto Star, Boucher “has gained weight since the NBA stalled because of the coronavirus pandemic in March and is learning how to use it to his advantage. Still, the lanky Boucher is unlikely to become a “big” big man anytime soon, so capitalizing on the strength he does have, his athleticism and his speed will be key to making strides.”
Boucher scored in double figures in 15 games with three 20-point outings and recorded five double-doubles. He also led the reserves in scoring 13 times.
Boucher scored a career-high 25 points (9-15 FG, 3-7 3PT, 4-5 FT) Aug. 10 at Milwaukee and finished with 19 points and a career-best 15 rebounds Mar. 3 at Phoenix, becoming just the fourth player in Raptors history with 15+ points and 15+ rebounds as a reserve.
Boucher grew up in Montreal, Canada, so it’s special that his NBA career is on the rise while playing in nearby Toronto.
The Toronto Sun worded it this way: “From homeless at 16, to starring in the NCAA before going undrafted thanks to a torn ACL, to a new $6.5 million US guaranteed contract for the upcoming NBA season, Chris Boucher’s journey is the stuff of Hollywood scripts.”
Minutes scarce for talented Raptors big man Chris Boucher
Talented Raptors forward Chris Boucher deserves more minutes. But head coach Nick Nurse has tough decisions to make in order for that to happen. Here’s the Toronto Star reporting:
“It’s not an easy thing to figure out,” Nurse said. “If you say you want to give someone more minutes that means you are taking some away from somebody else, and I don’t really know who that is right now.
“Do I chip a couple away from Pascal (Siakam)? Maybe. I certainly don’t think OG (Anunoby) is in position to have his (clipped). He’s wanting more the way it is. Serge (Ibaka) has been pretty low. Marc (Gasol) has been pretty low.
“There is not a lot of free minutes there. I will keep thinking about how I am going to figure out how to expand his role.”
There are worse problems for a coach to have.