The Toronto Raptors have struggled in the early part of the season but it is not all doom and gloom. Chris Boucher has emerged as a key rotation piece.
The Toronto Raptors have had a rough start to the season, starting off 2-8 in their first 10 games and have lost five games by single digits.
One reason people point to is that the Raptors lost both their two rotation centers in free agency, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka signed with the LA Lakers and LA Clippers respectably.
The Raptors responded by signing Aron Baynes to be the starting center and Alex Len as insurance for Baynes – who has been injury-prone for the past two seasons, only playing 93 games out of a total of 155 regular-season games.
The Raptors also extended Chris Boucher’s contract signing him to a two-year $13.5 million dollar extension. Going into the season Boucher was assumed to be the backup center and would be the “small-ball” switchable center, this assumption has changed very quickly.
Head coach Nick Nurse has lost his trust in Baynes as of recent, citing his inconsistent play as the reason for not giving him minutes.
"“He seems to (have) a real good game or a real not-so-good game. We just kind of need a little bit in the middle, but we’ll probably keep looking at that.”"
aron baynes and alex len over the raptors' last five games:
— William Lou (@william_lou) January 12, 2021
- 62 minutes played
- 0 points (0-of-10 shooting)
- 12 rebounds
- 1 assist (4 turnovers)
- minus-29
This has pushed Boucher up the depth chart significantly. He may have not started a game yet but his minutes suggest he is Nurse’s preferred center of choice.
Boucher the past five games has averaged 24.3 minutes per game, 15.2 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game, 3.0 blocks per game and has made 2.4 3s per game — while a healthy Baynes has not played the past three games and Len has averaged 8.7 minutes in the same sample.
The emergence is not only in the minutes but it’s in the statistics too. Last season Boucher only averaged 13.2 minutes per game, 6.6 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game and 1.0 blocks per game.
So, how has the new Chris Boucher gained the trust of the coaching staff? And what does it look like both offensively and defensively with the Toronto Raptors?