Are the Toronto Raptors showcasing Chris Boucher for a trade?
In July 2018, the Toronto Raptors signed an Exhibit 10 contract with a 25-year-old forward with a grand total of one NBA game under his belt, playing 79 seconds with a Golden State Warriors side that ended up winning the NBA title.
In a league that can often be unforgiving to its periphery talent, the move could’ve easily seen Toronto signing someone who would quickly move on from, or be sent to the G League, with no real further NBA opportunity granted.
But in this case, Toronto ended up landing Chris Boucher, who’s now put up 391 games with the franchise, ranking 14th all-time in team history.
With the Warriors visiting Toronto on Monday, he had a chance to show his old organization just how far he’s come over the last seven years since leaving the Bay Area.
“It’s remarkable,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told Daily Hive before the game, who was also in charge during Boucher’s stint with the Warriors. “You could see his potential… [Toronto] was a great fit for him, coming up here to an organization that really valued that type of athlete. For Chris, that he’s been able to make a career out of it and stay in one place for so long, that’s not easy to do in the NBA, but he’s earned it.”
Boucher had an unforgettable performance against Golden State, putting up 17 fourth-quarter points (and 18 total) to help power Toronto to a 104-101 win, just their third victory of the season.
“He was kinda quiet back in the day. Knew he could shoot. Knew he loved to play. Knew he was burning for an opportunity. He’s obviously gotten extremely better… I just hate the way he played tonight,” Warriors star Steph Curry joked to TSN’s Josh Lewenberg.
While he’s due for a strong performance every once in a while, Boucher’s never been on the true star trajectory.
But while he’s built up quite the list of accomplishments over his years in Toronto, it seems pretty plausible that the Raptors might also be giving him every opportunity over the coming weeks to up his market value ahead of the February 6 trade deadline.
Are the Toronto Raptors trading Chris Boucher?
The short answer: it sure seems to be trending that way.
The long answer: Toronto’s front office of general manager Bobby Webster and president Masai Ujiri have never been easy to predict, and there’s no telling whether they’d actually pull the trigger on a Boucher deal.
But Boucher’s minutes have been up throughout the last week, playing a season-high 26 minutes on January 9, while also hitting the 20-minute mark in each of his last three games.
SNY’s Ian Begley reported last week multiple franchises were interested in acquiring Boucher, including the Denver Nuggets, who had a team staffer listed as in attendance for Monday’s game in Toronto.
Given that he’d played over 20 minutes just twice since November 27, it seems like Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic might be giving the other teams around the league an extended look at the 32-year-old, who he called the “ultimate professional” for his willingness to have an up-and-down spot throughout the rotation.
“He’s just always ready,” Rajakovic added.
Boucher’s 65 points in four games for the Raptors since January 8 are his most in a four-game stretch this season, with his head coach having a theory as to his strong play that doesn’t involve trade rumours.
“I’m gonna give you a secret over here. He started drinking espresso before the games. So I think that gives you some extra boost,” Rajakovic revealed before the Warriors game.
Rajakovic made his love of espresso known immediately in his first media appearances, so it’s little surprise that he’d recommend Boucher drink one of his favourite beverages.
Only time will tell whether the two will still be sharing coffee chats in a month or Boucher’s seven-year run with Toronto will come to an end.
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