Raptors' Boucher looks to become 'a better vet' after frustrating season

MONTREAL – The Chris Boucher story never gets old, even if the human energy machine suddenly is nearly 32 and getting ready to start his seventh NBA season.

It’s never boring either, with his unlikely career unfolding in a series of mini operas with great highs and sad lows, playing out in the space of months or weeks and sometimes even within games.

Take the last time Boucher was in Montreal with the Toronto Raptors.

He was 25 years old with a grand total of 79 seconds of NBA experience to his name, earned in an end-of-season cameo with the NBA champion Golden State Warriors, who promptly cut him, setting him adrift, his slim chance at an NBA career hanging by a thread almost before it started.

He was a late addition to the Raptors' summer-league roster that year, did well enough to get an exhibit-10 deal and an invite to training camp and was one of five players battling it out for a single two-way contract.

In Montreal with training camp winding down, he sat on the bench impatiently as the clock ticked down in what was an otherwise meaningless exhibition game as the Raptors were getting ready to begin what ended up being their 2018-19 championship season.

Boucher grew up in Montreal-Nord, playing pick-up basketball with buddies after he quit school at 16 and putting in shifts on the grill at St-Hubert chicken until he was discovered tearing up a youth tournament game and offered a chance to play formally for the first time at age 20.

His chances were always self-made. Playing without fear is his specialty. On that night back in Montreal with the Raptors, he bounded onto the floor and contributed a pair of blocked shots, two unlikely threes and three fouls in quick succession.

The sold-out crowd at the Bell Centre was chanting his name and the Raptors bench, full of millionaires and all-stars, began losing their collective minds.

No one who was in the building will ever forget.

Boucher doesn’t. The idea of that moment being the beginning of a seven-year NBA career in which he’s been he’s earned two contracts worth more than $50 million is almost unfathomable.

What would he tell that younger version of himself?

“I would say ‘you have no clue what journey you are going to be on,'” Boucher said as the Raptors opened training camp in Montreal on Tuesdayfor the first time in their 30-year franchise history. “At that time, I thought, OK, I’m on the Raptors, I play in the NBA and it’s all good and done.

“(But) when you realize some guys don’t make it that long, some guys make it that long but never win a championship (and) I got the chance to do both, I’m really grateful about it.”

The road has had its bumps. While Boucher carved out a useful role for himself as an energizer off the bench under Nick Nurse and was rewarded with a three-year deal worth $35.2 million in the summer of 2022, playing time has been hard to come by under current head coach Darko Rajakovic.

Last season, Boucher played just 14.1 minutes a game in Rajakovic’s first year after averaging 21.6 minutes per game in the three seasons prior). He had 15 DNP-CDs (did not play – coach’s decision) littered throughout his game log before a knee injury in early March shuttered him for the season.

Boucher admits he wasn’t happy about his minutes, role or future. It seemed likely he would get traded and he may still yet, but rather than let his frustration carry over, he’s focusing on an improved mindset.

“When you’ve got a career or you played a lot of years, you get kind of lost in how many minutes you’re playing and all and you forget about a lot of little things,” Boucher said. “I did a lot of that in the summer, work on that just to make sure my mind's at the right place to start the year.”

Ironically, he credits Rajakovic for an improved outlook.

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

Which doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed minutes or a role. The facts remain that the Raptors are a young team, firmly in rebuild mode, and making lineup decisions for the benefit of a soon-to-be 32-year-old who is entering the final year of his contract aren’t all that high on Rajakovic's priority list.

What does Rajakovic see as Boucher's role? He offered no promises, but some hope.

“Chris' role is to be ready every single day,” Rajakovic said. “Chris' role is to continue to improve. I'm keeping him really accountable in everything that he does, and I'm really pushing him to make strides and to get better … I want all 15 guys to put me in a really tough situation to make decisions about who's going to be playing. But Chris is doing an amazing job, and I can see him doing a very important job for our team this year.”

Or maybe not. But six years after Boucher arrived in Montreal just hoping to crack a roster, not knowing what was in store for him, he’s back as a father, and a veteran with his eyes wide open. He’s appreciative of the career he’s been able to create for himself on the force of his sheer will, but also understanding that for all the ups, he has to own some of the downs too – the defensive errors, the missed reads on offence, the positional nuances that were sometimes lacking .

Boucher’s effort and energy papered over a lot of them, but they were mistakes he shouldn’t be making at this stage of his career.

Having a coach believe he can still get better this late in his story has done Boucher wonders.

“It feels good. Me and Darko been doing a lot of talking this summer,” Boucher said. “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.

“A lot of basketball that I’ve been playing raw, my raw talent, now think the game better more, I think Darko pushed me to do that this summer. It’s really amazing, I appreciate everything he’s done for me.”