JULY 7: Boucher has officially re-signed with the Raptors, the team announced (via Twitter).
JUNE 30: The Raptors have agreed to bring back big man Chris Boucher on a three-year contract worth a reported $35.25MM, agent Sam Permut tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Toronto is using Boucher’s Bird rights to re-sign him to a deal worth a little more than the full mid-level exception. It’s a fully guaranteed deal, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.
After going undrafted out of Oregon in 2017 at age 24, Boucher has slowly emerged as one of the best player development stories in the NBA. He was the G League MVP and Defensive Player of the year in 2018/19 with the Raptors 905, Toronto’s affiliate, then emerged as a rotation regular in ’19/20, averaging 6.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 1.0 BPG in just 13.2 MPG (62 games).
His development led to a two-year, $13.5MM deal in 2020, which he easily outperformed the last couple of seasons. Boucher averaged 13.6 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 1.9 BPG on .514/.383/.788 shooting in ’20/21 (60 games, 24.2 MPG). His numbers fell off to 9.4 PPG, 6.2 RPG and 0.9 BPG on .464/.297/.777 shooting in 80 games (21.1 MPG) last season, partially as a result of finger surgery during preseason.
Boucher is an athletic, energetic big man who can block shots and limited opponents to 43.9% shooting this past season. He’s an unusual player in a lot of ways, standing 6’9″ but weighing just 200 pounds. Although Boucher often plays center, he’s capable of switching across multiple positions on defense using his speed and 7’4″ wingspan.
Clearly, the Raptors value Boucher highly, despite his down shooting year and limitations (he has 116 career assists in 123 games). Yet those limitations haven’t been a hindrance, as the team been markedly better when he’s on the court over the last two seasons.
F-yeah! Love this deal, happy to have him back.
Little bit of an overpay but glad to have him back!
Maybe in year one, but if he continues his development trajectory, might be a steal by year 3.
He’s already 29 idk how much more he’s gonna develop.
This may be true, but he took a huge step forward this past season. Just hoping it can continue.
This is a great deal for them to keep him. Really like this guy. Thought he should have been their starter. I also think it’s a bargain for what he is actually capable of, even as a big. This is already a tradeable asset eventually, in my opinion
Great! Hopefully he can now commit to 3 years with the MNT.
Would have liked to see him on another team. Oh well.