Boucher’s resurgence an early-season bright spot for Raptors

TORONTO – You weren’t the only one worried about Chris Boucher in that moment.

Late in last month’s game against Philadelphia, the springy Raptors forward went up to meet 76ers star Tyrese Maxey at the rim. The block was successful, and initiated a transition opportunity that led to a big Jamison Battle three-pointer the other way. It was a crucial sequence in the fourth-quarter run that gave Toronto its first win of the young season.

The problem? Boucher collided with Maxey on his way down, causing his body to flip mid-air. With his legs flying in opposite directions, he landed hard on his back. You could hear the collective gasp from fans in the arena and see the look of concern on the faces of his teammates and coaches.

But after taking a second or two to make sure he was still in one piece, the 31-year-old bounced back up, as he’s known to do. He sprinted down the court and rejoined the play before Battle could drill the shot.

“I don’t know, man,” Boucher told TSN a few days later. “A lot of people ask me why I didn’t get hurt. The adrenaline does a lot of work for me. During the game when I was playing on adrenaline, I didn’t feel anything and thank God I’m still good. I still don’t know what happened.

“My mom was crying.”

It’s been the story of his professional career and of his life. Boucher falls, but he always gets back up.

A year ago, the veteran big man was coming to terms with a confusing new reality. After playing a key role and bringing his trademark energy off the bench for several seasons under former Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, Boucher wasn’t playing much and, initially, he didn’t understand why.

He was a healthy scratch on opening night. By mid-season, he had completely fallen out of Darko Rajakovic’s rotation and was hearing his name pop up in trade speculation leading to the February deadline.

Boucher’s effort level has never been in question; his motor is undeniable. But with the new head coach preaching quick passing and a more conservative and fundamentally sound defensive approach, he no longer seemed like a natural fit in the team’s system. It was a lot to process, especially for someone who was also adjusting to being a new, first-time father.

“It was tough,” he said. “Obviously, I was trying to figure out ways to become a good father but also, I needed to find ways to get on the court. And then they were talking about trading me and if I leave then my son’s still here and I’ve gotta figure out ways to [see him]. So, it was definitely tough. I feel like it was kinda hard to not show it, not show the world that I was affected by it.”

It wasn’t a new feeling for Boucher, just a different hurdle to clear. This is the same guy who was born in St. Lucia, moved to Montreal Nord when he was 5, quit school at 16 and went to work as a dishwasher at a chicken joint to help support his mother. He didn’t start playing organized basketball until he was 20, tore his ACL at the end of his senior season at Oregon and had to fight his way into the NBA as an undrafted free agent, and won G League MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in 2018-19 before eventually carving out a niche for himself with the Raptors. He’s no stranger to adversity or overcoming it.

But last season was a wake-up call, a reminder that his incredible rags-to-riches story could come to an end in an instant if he let it.

It’s not that the Raptors decided against trading him; it’s that they couldn’t, not without attaching a draft pick or two to the remainder of his contract – he still had another full season left on the three-year $35.25 million deal he signed in 2022. His career earnings exceed $50 million, and he’s been blessed to sign two NBA deals, but at the rate things were going, it was fair to wonder whether there would be a third.

The summertime gave him a much-needed opportunity to reflect and reset. He leaned on his mother, his brother, and his long-time friend and manager, Ibrahim Appiah. He sought out guidance from the people who would ultimately determine his fate with the Raptors: Rajakovic, team president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster.

He came out of it with a fresh mindset. To extend the lifespan of his career, he knew he would have to become a better and more well-rounded player.

Playing hard can take you a long way, and Boucher is living proof of concept; he has eight seasons in the NBA to show for it. The next step was to not just play hard, but also play smart: to see the floor better, to make the extra pass, to take fewer and more calculated risks on defence, to be more focused and make fewer mistakes.

“I think there was a lot of stuff that I was doing that I kept saying I gotta do better, but I never changed it,” Boucher said. “Obviously, when things are going well and you’re playing all the time you [think], well, I’m just going to keep doing what I’m going. But by the time I wasn’t playing, I was like, all right, well, now I’ve gotta figure it out or I won’t be here no more.”

The change in his approach was noticeable coming into training camp this fall. With the pre-season opener taking place in his hometown of Montreal, Boucher was the first reserve to check in. What initially seemed like a nice gesture on Rajakovic’s part turned out to be a sign of things to come. A year after getting a DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) on opening night, Boucher logged 20 minutes and scored a team-leading 18 points in the first game of the regular season.

He's played at least 13 minutes in all eight of the Raptors games, and the team has won his minutes in five of them. He scored 24 points – his most since 2021 – in Saturday’s win over Sacramento, Vince Carter’s jersey retirement night, and did Carter’s revving the engine celebration after hitting one of his four three-pointers.

Granted, injuries to Scottie Barnes and backup centre Kelly Olynyk have opened the door to more playing time, but Boucher has taken advantage of the opportunity. That’s who he is, who he’s always been.

Who would have thought that the very raw 25-year-old who signed a training camp deal, and then a two-way contract, with the Raptors ahead of their 2018-19 championship campaign would be the club’s longest-tenured player six seasons later?

“I probably would’ve taken that bet if you wanted to put some money on that,” his old coach, Nurse, joked recently.

But Boucher is a basketball survivor. Whenever he would fall out of Nurse’s circle of trust, he’d find a way to claw his way back in. Any time you count him out, he comes back better and stronger than ever. He’s got nine lives, and he may still have a few of them left.

“He does his thing, man,” Nurse said. “When you can shoot it in and you’re [6-foot-9] and you play active with energy, you’re probably going to find the floor. As much as maybe nobody wants you to [sometimes], you’re going to find the floor. That’s kinda what we always did. We always had him off the bench as an energy, spark guy. And the one thing about him, man, he comes to play. There are hardly any nights where you say Chris didn’t play very hard tonight. You ever remember any of those? I don’t.”

There are still going to be moments where that isn’t enough. He’s still prone to the occasional head-scratching jumper early in the shot clock or looking off an open shooter to dribble into traffic.

Less than a minute into the fourth quarter of Monday’s loss to Denver, Rajakovic took a timeout to coach Boucher through a couple of missed defensive assignments, but notably, didn’t take him out of the game. A few possessions later, Boucher passed up a decent look from the corner to find R.J. Barrett for a better shot at the top of the arc. Then, he chased down a defensive rebound and wisely tossed it off the leg of a Nuggets player as he was falling out of bounds.

At 31, he’s probably not going to reinvent himself completely, but that doesn’t mean he can’t continue to evolve and improve his game. Despite being the third-oldest player on his team, Boucher doesn’t see himself as a finished product. Given his late start to basketball, he may have a point. There might still be another level for him to reach, and considering he’s playing for a new contract – either in Toronto or elsewhere – this would be a good time to make that jump.

“One thing that I keep telling everybody is that most people have been playing basketball since they were eight, or maybe three, four, five, six,” Boucher said. “I started when I was 20, so if you count, it’s like 12 years of basketball [that I’m catching up on]. So, I’m still learning a lot. Even body-wise, I don’t feel like I’m [turning] 32. A lot of the things that I’m doing now, it’s like, okay, a rookie would do that. But I’m still 30 in my head and [trying to] be a vet and talk to the young guys and be a source of help for this team.”

"I’m in a way better position than I was, mentally and physically. So, I think [last season] was definitely a blessing in disguise, for sure."