What Chris Boucher said about Toronto Raptors future and pending free agency
Of all the questions surrounding the Toronto Raptors’ offseason, there’s perhaps none bigger than what exactly is up next for Chris Boucher.
Boucher is the Raptors’ longest-tenured active player, having first joined the franchise during their championship-winning year of 2019.
An unrestricted free agent heading into this summer, the 32-year-old’s future with the Raptors is still uncertain.
Last playing on Feb. 26, Boucher was relegated to the bench for the latter part of the Raptors’ season while the team favoured younger players, including four regular rookies in Jamison Battle, Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter, and Jonathan Mogbo.
In a wide-ranging interview with CityNews’ Lindsay Dunn this week to chat about his SlimmDuck Foundation that earned him a nod for the NBA’s Social Justice Award, Boucher spoke about his past season and the challenges it placed on him.
“For me, becoming a vet, that was definitely like the hardest thing for me to kind of take in,” Boucher said. “I could play a lot, I could help, and I still feel young and all, but I think there’s a lot of stuff that you can see like with my age and where the team is going… the role is changing and all. This year, I think that they were focusing on the young guys, and I have to be the vet.”
When he was in the lineup playing 17 minutes a game, Boucher averaged 10 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 0.7 assists in 50 games this season.
“When I had the time to play, I showed what I was able to do, and that’s always something that I’m always going to do. I think that from the beginning that I started playing [in the NBA], the hustle, the hard work, and now I’m able to show that to the young guys. I don’t think next year is going to be the same year, and hopefully I’m here next year to do the same thing and help. Wherever I am, you’re going to see the same Chris Boucher.”
Toronto’s front office seemed to echo Boucher’s sentiments.
“I know who Chris is,” Raptors president Masai Ujiri said at his end-of-season availability last month. “I don’t know who Jonathan Mogbo is and I don’t know who Jamison Battle is… and I have to put them in a position to start to find out what players they can become… This was a tough one. I think we had all the communication with Chris. I think Chris was an incredible professional. It was a tough place to put him, but I think when he played, he had a really good year.”
NBA free agency traditionally opens on June 30.