#chris-boucher

#chris-boucher

While the Toronto Raptors did not move up in the 2023 NBA Draft order during the lottery revealing on Tuesday night, the Portland Trail Blazers managed to get extremely lucky when they moved up to the No. 3 overall spot.That doesn't mean they will keep the pick, however.With Damian Lillard still without an NBA Finals appearance, Portland has hinted that they will do everything to maximize their chances of competing for a title with No. 0 on the roster.

The Toronto Raptors are in the mood for a scorer in the NBA Draft, as the roster is clearly in need of a dynamic young player that can give a moribund, milquetoast offense the injection of life that it needs so badly.Names like Keyonte George and Cason Wallace have been thrown around quite frequently, with both of them looking like long-term answers at the point guard spot.

Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors know that the 2023 NBA Draft holds as much value and importance as any draft the Raptors have had in quite some time.They need to make sure that a high-end scorer comes to town and helps revitalize the offense.Names like Baylor's Keyonte George have risen to the forefront of Raptors Twitter's collective consciousness due to his scoring ability, though Kentucky's Cason Wallace and Arkansas' Nick Smith have also been connected to the Raptors with varying degrees of seriousness lately.

NBA Champion, All-Star, one of the most successful undrafted players of all time, undrafted free agent, Fred VanVleet.The Raptors are at some sort of crossroads.Caused by the slow, trickling loss of talent from a championship team, the fruitless attempts to replenish it; and finally, the clashing of different egos and personalities.

The Toronto Raptors have been boosted by the performance of backup point guard Jeff Dowtin Jr. in the last few weeks.Dowtin, who is currently on a two-way contract, has beaten out two draft selections in Malachi Fynn and Dalano Banton that were hand-picked by Masai Ujiri.Dowtin's 4.7 points and 3.0 assists per game in the last three contests aren't setting the world on fire, but they have helped Toronto pull off some very close wins against quality competition.

It's really difficult to create layups and dunks in the halfcourt.There's a reason the most desirable players in the sport are those who can create looks at the rim, either to score or force the haphazard collapse from the defense to create opportunities elsewhere.The Raptors are still a bottom-five offense in the halfcourt, so they need to create easy looks as often as possible.

There's a scene in the 1997 movie Armageddon - one of the worst movies ever made, but maybe also the single best bad movie ever made? - where, as our heroes prepare to launch into space so they can go drill a hole in an asteroid, the NASA flight director says to all those assembled, "All right ladies and gentlemen, it's pucker time."

The Raptors have a huge game coming up tonight as they can further separate themselves from the Washington Wizards who are also eyeing a Play-In spot.It's the tie-breaking game for the series this season as they previously traded wins three weeks ago.Wizards scope (33-41, 11th in East | Offensive rating: 16th | Defensive rating: 21st) Last five games: vs Spurs 136-124 W, vs Nuggets 104-118 L, @ Magic 112-122 L, vs Kings 118-132 L, @ Cavaliers 94- 117 L.
Just a few weeks ago the Wizards and Raptors were fighting each other for a Play-In spot and now Washington has fallen off quite hard.

The Toronto Raptors are adding free agent guard Will Barton to their roster as soon as he completes his contract buyout with the Washington Wizards, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.ESPN Sources: Free agent G Will Barton is signing with the Toronto Raptors.After completing buyout with Wizards, Barton will join Toronto and be eligible for a playoff roster.

The Toronto Raptors will face off against the Washington Wizards for the second game in a row and they will look to bounce back and grab the crucial win.Last game we saw an unfathomable discrepancy between the bench unit and the starting unit and in order to win this game Toronto's bench simply has to play better.

First of all, the travelling Raptors fans flooding Little Caesars Arena were loud and made their presence known once again.At one point a Detroit "defence" chant was simply drowned out by "Let's Go Raptors" during the fourth.Pascal Siakam had a shoutout afterwards.This was the Raptors first noon game (Eastern time) since Christmas Day 2019.

The Toronto Raptors are in a very difficult situation, as they need to decide which players from this roster should be around for the long haul and which names should be sent away in order to get some more productive players in town.Chris Boucher has found himself squarely in the crosshairs.Boucher started the season as hot as can be, consistently scoring in the double digits off the bench and emerging as the team's clear-cut Sixth Man.

After a crushing loss to the Indiana Pacers last game, hopefully it was the final wake up call that Toronto needs in order to truly lock in for this final stretch of games.The Detroit Pistons who are notorious for giving Toronto trouble in the past are coming to Scotiabank tonight and Toronto simply can't afford to drop games like this, this late in the season.

Starting on the Raptors side of things, this game was another blown opportunity.Opinions have been split all season on whether Toronto should be gunning for a playoff spot in the first place.However that quest would be significantly easier if the Raptors catch the Hawks, resulting in one play-in win to make the postseason instead of two.

The Toronto Raptors were considered the favorites to beat an Indiana Pacers team that was playing without star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, but injuries of their known sidelining Gary Trent Jr. and Scottie Barnes made things a bit more complicated.An already thin bench was stretched thin without these players.

The trade deadline was not without its fireworks and Toronto made sure to get involved with the league's annual fire sale.They reunited with center Jakob Poetl in an effort to bolster the center position yet, they will most likely be without the new acquisition as the deal has yet to be made official and they will have to try to take down Utah tonight.

In a battle of teams that have mostly underachieved this season, it was the resurgent Toronto Raptors that were able to claim a pivotal victory over the Chicago Bulls, 104-98.With the win, Toronto moves 2.5 games up on the Bulls in the standings, and claims the season series 2-1, giving them the tiebreaker should they need it.

6 minutes and 17 seconds left in the 4th quarter, Scottie Barnes just had his missed layup put back with an emphatic slam by Chris Boucher and the Raptors lead has extended to 13.After some free throws from Kelly Olynyk, Pascal comes down and sinks a mid range jumper to push the lead back to 13, after a layup by Walker Kessler Pascal comes down yet again and cashes a mid range jumper for his 35th point of the night, it feels like it's going to be a strong closing performance from Pascal as he just won't let the Jazz back in.

The Toronto Raptors are fighting as hard as they can to make sure that they can stay alive in the Eastern Conference.Despite going into their matchup against the Golden State Warriors relatively healthy, the latest OG Anunoby injury update sandblasted all of their positive vibes away.Anunoby was fouled hard while going up for a shot in the second quarter, landing awkwardly on his arm and writing around on the ground in pain.

The Indiana Pacers are visiting the Toronto Raptors tonight in an eastern conference matchup that holds serious implications for Toronto, like all of the remaining games will.Toronto needs this game to keep trying to rise in the standings and Indiana may be without their best player in Tyrese Haliburton tonight so that makes things a bit easier for Toronto.

The Toronto Raptors welcomed the Minnesota Timberwolves to Scotiabank Arena tonight as they attempt to climb in the standings during the last weeks of the regular NBA Season.With nearly similar records and placements in the East and West, it's crunch time for both these teams.The T-Wolves came into this game undermanned, missing Anthony Edwards after he suffered a bad ankle injury last night.

This game should be considered a golden opportunity for the Raptors to inch closer to the all-important eight seed.League leading Milwaukee is waiting on Sunday, literally the worst opponent you can draw up to play on a back to back.1-1 in this scenario is a passing grade.Minnesota is the final West opponent on the schedule.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are stomping into Scotiabank arena tonight to face off against the Toronto Raptors for the second time this season and this time there is plenty at stake for both of these teams.OKC sits at a record of 34-35 and are currently the 9th seed so they are looking to get every win they can so they can rise up in the standings and the same can be said for Toronto who sits at a record of 33-36 and is also the 9th seed currently.

As the Toronto Raptors fans collectively freak out that they aren't sitting on two huge trade packages worth of picks, let's all take a second and appreciate that Masai Ujiri just plugged the roster's biggest hole.The lack of a rebounder and rim protector left a team that was advertised as a versatile defensive nightmare as more of the same over and over and over again.

Yikes.Despite the vote of confidence by Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri, the Toronto Raptors rewarded him by showing how bad they can be defensively, especially in the fourth, choking a 14-point lead and surrendering to Utah Jazz, 116-122.The Raptors showed excellent ball movement to start the game and played better defense, especially once Jakob Poeltl was inserted into the game.

After a brutal Friday night loss against Utah, Toronto will look to right the ship against Detroit.This is a team that has given the Raptors a lot of trouble ever since their acquisition of former Raptors head coach Dwane Casey, but Toronto got a win in their last meeting with a tight 115-111 victory at Detroit on November 14.
Raptors scope (26-31, 11th in East | Offensive rating: 11th | Defensive rating: 17th) Last five games: vs Jazz 122 - 116 L, vs Spurs 112 - 98 W, @ Grizzlies 106 - 103 W, @ Rockets 117 - 111 W, @ Jazz 131 - 128 L
Toronto's dreams of a perfect homestand came to a quick end on Friday night as the Jazz stole the game away from the Raptors late in the game, but an opportunity to get right back on track arises against a struggling side.

Click here for player grades from this game.To nobody's surprise, a Dwane Casey game turned from "should be okay" to "this is uncomfortable" but Toronto came on on top vs Detroit at home for the first time since October 2019.As a result, the Raptors flip back on top of the Bulls via percentage points for the final play-in spot that the fanbase is still very split on.

The Toronto Raptors were not exactly at their best defensively on Saturday.Their shooting struggles didn't help either.Trae Young had 29 points and nine assists to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 114-103 win, snapping the Raptors' three-game winning streak.Dejounte Murray contributed 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Atlanta, which has won two in a row.

The Toronto Raptors finally rediscovered their three-point shooting and it led to a much-needed victory on Tuesday.Entering the night as the lowly 29th-ranked team in the league in three-point shooting, the Raptors hit a season high 20 shots from behind the arc en route to a 132-120 victory over the Charlotte Hornets, their second consecutive win.

The Toronto Raptors were awesome in the first quarter last night, and incredible in the third.Unfortunately basketball is a game of four quarters, and the Raptors let the Los Angeles Lakers walk all over them in quarters 2 and 3, and the Lakers came away with 122-112 win.O.G. Anunoby was a massive bright spot for the Raptors in this one; he was incredible on both ends, holding Anthony Davis in check on D, and scoring 31 points on just 14 shots the other way.

First and foremost... Happy Valentines day
The Toronto Raptors will look to head into the all-star break on a win against the Orlando Magic at home.Pascal Siakam (all-star) and Scottie Barnes (rising star) will be heading to Utah during the break.On a Sunday afternoon game, the Raptors narrowly won against the Detroit Pistons.

The Toronto Raptors used a solid defensive effort in the second half to down the Orlando Magic 123-113 Tuesday night - and 30 points from new/old Raptor Jakob Poeltl were the icing on top.It didn't look like we'd be saying anything positive about the Raptors' defense following an atrocious second quarter - the Raptors gave up 43 points to the Magic, letting them shoot 70% in the frame and getting roasted on backcut after backcut.

The Toronto Raptors' relative inactivity at the trade deadline has set them up for what promises to be a very busy offseason.Players like OG Anunoby and Chris Boucher could be on the move if the team believes they can get a haul of assets for them in a hypothetical trade.Boucher may not have the star power that a player like Anunoby possesses, but he earned himself an eight-figure, three-year contract in the 2022 offseason after putting together consecutive strong seasons as one of the first men off the Raptors' bench.

With All-Star weekend in the rearview mirror and none of the core dealt at the trade deadline, the push for a playoff spot begins now.The next six weeks promise to be wild.The Raptors' have the 5th hardest remaining strength of schedule in the NBA. 9 of their 23 games left are against top-4 seeds, 13 of 23 are on the road & they'll play 3 sets of back-to-backs.-

For what it's worth, the Raptors play 13 games before the February 9th trade deadline.10 on the road3 back-to-back sets7 straight games against teams .500& above6 against a top-10 offence 5 against a top-10 defence- Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau)
January 15, 2023


It feels like this has been said numerous times over the last month, but the Raptors are truly embarking on a critical stretch that will determine what course of action the front office takes when the trade deadline arrives.

The Toronto Raptors are likely going to make a move that changes the completion of their team, with Gary Trent Jr. at the heart of recent discussions.With names like Jakob Poeltl and Bojan Bogdanovic being targeted in trades, getting one of them and trading away a soon-to-be-expensive Trent might be the path Masai Ujiri chooses to take.

Whether you tuned into TSN's broadcast or attended the game, its clear that the cloud of negative vibes surrounding the Raptors a month ago has completely evaporated.Performances from Caribbean Heritage Night all night long had a packed house loud, something that hasn't always been said this season and I'm being nice.

In the Raptors press room, where the journalists & camerapersons engage coaches and players, I typically sit at the back of the room, right next to my pal, Amit Mann.Wonderful guy, and you may know his work with Yahoo Sports.This proximity made me think that Chris Boucher was pointing at me from the hallway with a massive grin on his face before yelling out something that I couldn't understand.

For much of this underwhelming 2022-23 season, the third quarter has spelled doom for the Toronto Raptors.But the team, with its fresh-look, balanced lineup, flipped the script tonight, outscoring the New Orleans Pelicans 38-32 in the third to take the control of a game they'd eventually win 110-115.

After a thrilling win over the Pelicans, the Toronto Raptors are back on the court this afternoon to take on the Detroit Pistons.It's a busy day of sports in Motown - with the Red Wings playing tonight, the Pistons are playing frighteningly early.So here we are, warming up brunch for a Raptors game with a noon start.

In some ways, this game was a microcosm of the entire season.The Raptors game plan on most nights is clear.Pressure opponents with a heightened focus on stars, force turnovers and get out in transition to mask a suspect half court offence.This worked in the first quarter, as the Clippers turned it over seven times.

The NBA season is nearly five months old, but the Raptors and Wizards haven't faced each other despite residing in the same conference until now with 19 games to go.How does that work NBA schedulers?These teams will get quite familiar with each other with two contests over the next three nights, and another meeting in Toronto is scheduled on March 26th.

The Toronto Raptors made the most of the all-star break without losing any of their momentum.Pascal Siakam, Toronto's only all-star this season, scored 26 points to help the Raptors fend off the New Orleans Pelicans 115-110 on Thursday as both teams returned from the break.It was Toronto's sixth win in seven games as the Raptors claw their way back into the NBA Eastern Conference's post-season picture.

"We gotta compete better.We need all hands on deck, everybody that steps on that floor has gotta compete."That's what Nick Nurse said after the Raptors treated an important matchup vs the Wizards like the dog days of January.Toronto is still ahead of Washington for ninth in the East by the slimmest of margins (both teams are two games under .500),

Host Samson Folk details the Raptors loss to the Clippers.QR comment: LeeZ
Reggie Evans Award: Chris Boucher
Make sure to check all our Raptors podcasts; all Raptors Reaction episodes are available separately as well.

Nick Nurse and the Toronto Raptors entered a pivotal two-game series against the Washington Wizards knowing that the team would need to flex their proverbial muscles to show that they can be a serious postseason squad that foes will have to take seriously.They didn't exactly get off to the best start on Thursday.

The Toronto Raptors will face off against the Denver Nuggets for the first time this season and it will most likely be a tough matchup.Denver sits at an NBA best 45-19 behind the spectacular play of MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic and Toronto will look to pull an upset tonight.The biggest headache for Toronto tonight will undoubtedly be defending Nikola Jokic, he is a tough guy to scheme doubles against because he sees the entire floor so well and he will probably get the ball to any man who is open for that split second on the double.

The Toronto Raptors are traveling to Los Angeles to face off against Raptors legend Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers, this game is nationally televised so a much broader audience will get to see Toronto tonight.The great news for the Toronto Raptors is that the Clippers have been struggling mightily on defense lately.

The Toronto Raptors appeared to have nailed the 2022 NBA offseason after a 48-win campaign in the prior season.Despite very rarely being a free agent hotbed, the signing of Otto Porter Jr. seemed to signal that Toronto was a very attractive destination for potential ring-chasers.In addition to Porter coming to town, Chris Boucher was brought back on a frontloaded three-year contract, and Thad Young signed an incentive-heavy two-year deal.

The dreaded seven game road trip everyone was waiting for has arrived.Raptors fans will not see their team at Scotiabank Arena again until February 8th, two weeks from now.It's anybody's guess what the roster will look like by then.In the meantime, Toronto will face quite a few exciting teams on the West Coast.

Scottie Barnes and the Toronto Raptors had every reason to be thoroughly beaten down and discouraged before their road matchup against Domantas Sabonis and the Sacramento Kings.Not only have they been one of the most disappointing teams in the NBA this season, but trade rumors are swirling around this team.

The Toronto Raptors have likely been taking trade calls centered around big-name starters like Gary Trent Jr. and Fred VanVleet, but that doesn't mean Masai Ujiri won't deal away a role player if he finds an offer he likes.After signing a three-year contract in the offseason, Chris Boucher might find himself with a new team.

The Toronto Raptors recently put together a stretch that gave everyone some optimism for the future of this team, they had just put together their longest winning streak of the season which was 3 games and the on court product just looked much improved as well.The defense was more connected, the ball was flowing effortlessly, and Toronto just felt more like a unified unit than at any point in the season.

The Toronto Raptors could have more power and influence over the 2023 NBA trade deadline than any other team.While they could obviously turn themselves into a more respectable playoff contender with some win-now moves, no one would fault them if they decided to trade away some of their starters and sell.

It would be hard for these teams to repeat the roller coaster game we witnessed on January 4th.In their first meeting this season, the Raptors missed their first 15 shots.Both teams combined for 25 points in the first quarter, only for Toronto to make an incredible 28-7 run in the final 3:08 of regulation down 90-69 to send the game to overtime.

The Toronto Raptors need to give their roster quite the system shock in the next few weeks, as they have to pivot away from their "Vision 6-9" identity and set themselves up for success in the modern NBA.Such a move could lead to Chris Boucher getting tossed to the wayside.Boucher started the season off as well as one could have hoped, making himself look like one of the most effective free agent signings any team made.

Toronto lost a winnable game on Tuesday at Milwaukee with numerous Bucks out, including Giannis Antetokounmpo.The Raptors will try to correct that against a Minnesota team that's in a similar situation.Raptors scope (20-25, 11th in East | Offensive rating: 13th | Defensive rating: 19th) That defensive rating continues to plummet and is flirting with the bottom 10 after allowing 130 points and 19 threes against Milwaukee.

The Toronto Raptors are getting prepared to make one last earnest charge at a postseason spot with this roster, as key names like Precious Achiuwa haven't always been available due to injuries.With one of the easiest remaining schedules in the second half, they had a golden opportunity to start hot against the Charlotte Hornets.

One of the league's most exciting players will finally get the chance to showcase his talents north of the border.Ja Morant is in his fourth season with 215 regular season games under his belt, but none of those were played in Toronto.There was no visit in his rookie year because that part of the 2020 schedule was regulated to the bubble.

Nick Nurse and the Toronto Raptors never even entertained the thought of playing a competitive game against Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies, as they had to change their starting lineup after four minutes on the floor and trailed by more than 20 points at home in the third quarter.Nurse has been willing to chew out his players at times this season, accusing Gary Trent Jr. of some poor defensive efforts and calling out Chris Boucher for general ineffective play.

First and foremost... happy new year!!After a thrilling win against the Pheonix Suns, the Toronto Raptors will play their first game of the new year against the Pacers in Indiana.Before the win against the Suns, the Raptors lost frustrating back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies.