Chris Boucher
Toronto Raptors

Player Facts

Height: 6'9"
Weight: 200lbs.

Wingspan: 7'4"

Date of Birth: Jan. 11, 1993
College Experience: Oregon (2 years)

Selections

All Star: 0
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 8
Physical Strength: 5
Positional Size: 8
Positional Wingspan: 10
Paint Scoring: 8
Midrange Scoring: 4
Three-Point Scoring: 5
Dribbling: 6
Passing: 2
Perimeter Defense: 6
Interior Defense: 8
Rebounding: 8

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JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Ability to Stretch

> Raging Rolls

> Second-Chance Points

> Off-Ball Movement

> Deep Paint Denials

> Blocking Three-Balls

> P&R Defense + Switching

> D-Rebounding + Post Defense

> Offensive Shortfalls

> Frequent Fouling/Defensive Qualms

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

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*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

Chris Boucher is a lanky 6-foot-9 versatile big man with some on-and-off shooting chops. He brings big-time energy and fearlessness to the court every night. Chris can also roll hard, offensive rebound, and has an elite block rate on the other end.

He has grown increasingly comfortable buying into his role as a hard-playing stretch big man and has become more vigilant with his shot selection. He can take some questionable shots when he's in a hot stretch but usually plays smart team basketball on both ends. A low turnover rate is just one metric that supports this posited strength of Boucher's.

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Ability to Stretch

Chris can pick-and-pop, working with a number of talented advantage-creators over the years. He likes to quickly get out of the high ball screen and glide into free space above-the-break. In fact, 2020-2021 had him nail more threes from this area than players such as Harrison Barnes, Tobias Harris, and Christian Wood.

Boucher can also space the floor as a kick-out recipient or as the trail man on the delayed break. His slingshot, over-the-head form works for him and his efforts are aided by such a high release point.

All told, the big connected on 38.3% of his 2020-2021 three-balls after struggling to be consistent in prior years. 2021-2022 saw him take a step back in this department but he looks to get back on track.

Raging Rolls

The Canadian hybrid big is a determined roll man who plays more forcefully than his frame suggests. Boucher can catch it and take long strides before catapulting down a one-handed dunk over the help. Chris is also an adept lob catcher and finisher with that blend of bounce, reach, and size.

Conversely, he can use his athletic ability to weave around the defense and adjust in-air for the appropriate finish. These chances can even come from his takes off the initial pop, using his solid ball skills to attack this way. Though merely 200 pounds, you cannot argue that Chris ever goes in soft to the basket.

2020-2021 had him in the 79th percentile for scoring as the roll man. In per-game averages, Boucher was just a tenth of a point behind centers Bam Adebayo, Clint Capela, and Domantas Sabonis despite them all playing more minutes. Digging deeper, his 5.3% and-one frequency was better than Joel Embiid and Nikola Vucevic, again a testament to his ferocity screaming down the lane.

Second-Chance Points

A third main area of substantial offensive value for Chris is his garbage-bucket-getting. The Oregon product is interestingly much better on the offensive backboards than the defensive ones.

Thanks to being so light, he can get off the hardwood much quicker than his counterparts closer to 300 pounds than 200. Offensive boards are swiftly stuffed back in or fouls can be drawn by Chris as well.

The 84th percentile is where he ended up for putback scoring in the 2020-2021 regular season. 2021-2022 had him in the top-15 for total second chance points accumulated. This sum proved higher than those of names like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis, and Wendell Carter Jr.

As mentioned, he can get to the line in these scenarios as well, sporting a strong free-throw rate on a per-minute basis. Chris dependably knocks these down at a respectable clip.

Off-Ball Movement

Chris Boucher rounds out his scoring profile with well-timed basket cuts and a general ability to finish well from the dunker's spot. His 2.2 points per game on cuts beat Ben Simmons and Mikal Bridges (2020-2021), but it is the way he moves off-ball that needs to be further analyzed.

He is always energized on the court and this shows in his off-ball motion. Chris will sprint out to three with his uphill gravity, zip in from the corner on a teammate's drive, or fly down the gut when his man loses sight of him. He makes good on these slashes with a 66.3% rim clip in 2021-2022 for example.

Deep Paint Denials

Boucher blocks a boatload of shots as a light-on-his-feet big with a 7-4 wingspan. Simply focusing on his fundamental block numbers, he was fifth in swats/night and third in block percentage leaguewide in 2020-2021. The outstanding part is that Chris averaged just 24.2 minutes of game action.

As the low man, he's gotten wiser in terms of his positioning, more disciplined with his verticality, and ultimate punctuality on rotations. He also exhibits great closing speed to snuff out weak layup attempts.

That burst and close-quarters agility allow him to maximize his measurables on the back line. Besides outright denials, Chris alters many shots as opponents stretch away awkwardly to elude his hands.

Blocking Three-Balls

The Slimm Duck excels at getting a fingertip on opponents' three-point attempts. Grazing these triple tries provides unique value as an off-ball defender. His foot speed as a big helps him fly around in zone defenses, capped off by his elongated reach.

P&R Defense + Switching

The hustling big continues to be an impactful defensive player away from the basket in man-defensive scenarios. He can handle switches well, stunt-and-recover, or even hard hedge with the speed to get back. Combining 2019-2020 with 2020-2021, he contained the guards he checked to 40.7% shooting from the field.

D-Rebounding + Post Defense

Defensive rebounding and some post defense complete his defensive skillset. He eclipsed the marks of Steven Adams and John Collins for D-REBS per-36 in 2020-2021. Down low, he finished up in the 65th percentile for post defense, leaning on length rather than muscle mass.

WEAKNESSES

Offensive Shortfalls

The offensive side can be a sizable source of value for Chris. However, he is not without flaws here, from his playmaking ineptness to massively streaky shooting to his absent back-to-the-basket game. He has been underneath 2 assists per-36 across his first five NBA seasons.

Without a great post game or real midrange game, Boucher consistently fills the role of play-finisher rather than any sort of initiator. Between this and his lack of applicable playmaking skills, the team is not wise to run much offense through him.

As a side note, his thinness keeps him from playing bigger minutes at the five given that he is a notable matchup problem against certain types of bruising fives.

Frequent Fouling/Defensive Qualms

As effective as Chris is defending the rim, he has one glaring issue in this area. Boucher can get foul-happy inside the key, with elevated 5.0 and 4.1 fouls per-36 marks in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 respectively. He's made some strides here but is still far from being the model of shot-blocking discretion.

A portion of these fouls come from an overzealousness to pursue iffy block attempts. An additional section of his hacks is rooted in his extremely slight frame. More specifically, Boucher can get body-bumped off his spot which can prompt him to whack his man's arm in a rash attempt to recover.

The former Duck's skeletal 200-pound frame continues to be a problem as he attempts to slow bulky dive men. The 6'9" big man was in just the 21st percentile defending rollers in 2020-2021. Moreover, despite stupendous length, he is no savant in the steals or deflections departments. Lastly, he still makes some mental blunders on defense that are reminiscent of his younger days.

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Beacon Bacon

Boucher took home both the G-League's MVP award and DPOY honors after his remarkable 2018-2019 campaign with the Raptors 905