This might be Chris Boucher’s last chance

Chris Boucher turns away from the rim and towards assembled media on the opposite baseline after slingshotting his patented jumper, posing with his arms out, trying to hold still but really vibrating. He waits to celebrate then slouches when the ball rims out. He does the same again in a moment, this time bricking the ball off the backboard, his on-top-of-the-world pose folding into laughter. When he finally hits a triple after posing he celebrates like a man who’s conquered the world, high-fiving his teammates, his coaches, screaming and hollering. He had beaten — by technical knockout due to the early celebration — Garrett Temple and Ochai Agbaji in a 3-point shooting contest at the Toronto Raptors’ training camp in Montreal. 

“I don’t feel out of place or that I shouldn’t be here,” said Boucher shortly after that shooting contest. “Coach is doing a really good job to teach me the game and make me a better leader, a better vet.”

He continued laughing and dancing and generally vibing his way through Toronto’s entire training camp. It was in his home town, and he was going to enjoy it. Come Toronto’s preseason game in Montreal, and Boucher splashed triples, dunked dunks, and blocked shots at the summit. The fun continues. At some point, though, the rubber will either meet the road, or … it won’t.

For a time it looked like Boucher’s star was on the rise. After winning G-League MVP in 2018-19 with the Raptors 905, he slowly expanded his everything for the parent club. He averaged 3.3 points per game for the big club in 2018-19, then doubled that the next season, then doubled it again the following one. By the time Toronto was exiled to Tampa, he was averaging 13.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game off the bench. He received votes for the Most Improved Player and Sixth Man awards. 

And much like the Raptors themselves, since then it has been a slow march to relative irrelevance for Boucher. Boucher’s minutes and production across the board have dropped every year, culminating in just 705 total minutes last season, his fewest since that 2018-19 year when he spent his time dominating the G League with Jordan Loyd. Boucher fell out of favour with Nick Nurse, then Darko Rajakovic. It has seemed like Boucher and the Raptors have been destined for divorce for years, yet it has never happened. 

Now he’s back in camp, the third-oldest player on the team and the only one who was in town for the championship. Before he partially tore his right MCL in March of last year, when the Raptors were finally press-ganged into playing Boucher due to injury decimating the rest of the roster, he was playing some of the best basketball of his career. He scored 11 points in just 23 minutes against the Phoenix Suns on March 7, then he threw 16 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks at the Portland Trail Blazers the next night. That was the night he hurt his knee, and he didn’t play again for the remainder of the season. 

So will he play for the Raptors this year, finally reclaim his spot in the rotation? 

“Chris’ role is to be ready every single day,” explained Rajakovic, not committing to real minutes for the energy big. “Chris’ role is to continue to improve. I’m keeping him really accountable in everything that he does… I want all 15 guys to put me in a really tough situation to make decisions about who’s going to be playing.”

Meanwhile, Boucher is undoubtedly ready to contribute to this team, perhaps more so than many of his teammates. Toronto has consistently been better on both ends with Boucher on the floor versus on the bench, with his on/off differential landing in the positive in three of his last four seasons. His hyperactive movement on the floor — reflected in cutting and offensive rebounding, has long been an advantage in the margins for Toronto. He draws free throws on one end and is a very solid rim protector, particularly for a non-center, on the other end. Those are all productive traits. It’s very en vogue in today’s NBA to try to win around the margins, to win the possession battle with offensive rebounds or forced turnovers — thanks Nick Nurse! — and Boucher is a margins-winning player. This has long been the case, even going so far as to define the team when it was good enough for those margins to drive winning.

Yet that doesn’t seem to outweigh the limitations Rajakovic seems to see in Boucher’s presence. His hyperactivity doesn’t mesh well with Rajakovic’s offensive principles, with passing, seals, and rapid decision-making. Rajakovic’s stated goal for every game last season was to hit 25 assists. Meanwhile Boucher’s assist percentage last year was the second-lowest in the NBA, to go along with the 10th-worst assist-to-turnover ratio. 

“Me and Darko been doing a lot of talking… This summer, he’s been on me a lot just trying to get me to a better place, a better player in my mindset, just be happy, just to focus on the little things,” said Boucher. “A lot of basketball that I’ve been playing raw, my raw talent, now [I need to] think the game better. I think Darko pushed me to do that this summer. It’s really amazing, I appreciate everything he’s done for me.”

Despite that talking over the offseason, the dichotomy showed in Boucher’s preseason party in Game 1, as he splashed triples, including one after corralling the ball after he was blocked at the rim. He scored with ease and aplomb. And he finished with zero assists.

Until Boucher’s ability to win the margins doesn’t sacrifice Toronto’s ability to institute its main principles, it’s unlikely that Rajakovic reverses Boucher’s career trajectory and makes him a permanent member of the rotation. He has to pass better, make faster decisions, work within the context of the play. Cutting and rebounding can’t make up for that deficit. His triples certainly won’t always fall, as he is a career 33.3 percent 3-point shooter, with only one season above that mark to his name. Supporting the framework of the offense is important for everyone’s development, and he needs to do so no matter what else he offers.

Boucher is working on it. But until his role on the court increases, his role will remain off the court. It seems like that’s acknowledged that, too.

“Coach is doing a really good job to teach me the game and make me a better leader, a better vet.” said Boucher. “I think that’s something I needed a lot to work on and this summer I took a long [time to work] on that.”

So for now Boucher’s job will likely be to be happy on the bench, to be an encouraging vet, to tell stories of the good old days and speak French and show tricks of the trade to the youngsters. And, yes, to splash triples and dunk dunks in the Raptors’ preseason game in Montreal, a city where he is a star. Then, in all likelihood, to fade from the spotlight elsewhere. And this will be the case until injury will inevitably give him another shot to prove his game has changed. Then he’ll need to cut and rebound and run and block shots — all while showing the quick decision-making, passing, and principled play that has to this point eluded him. And if it continues to, he might be relegated to bench cheerleader forevermore. 

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