Montreal native Boucher inks deal with Raptors
TORONTO — Canada’s Chris Boucher has secured one of the Toronto Raptors’ two-way contracts.
The 25-year-old forward from Montreal had nine points, two rebounds and four blocks in 19 minutes of action over four preseason games with the Raptors. In Toronto’s 118-91 win against Brooklyn on Wednesday in Montreal, Boucher came off the bench to a standing ovation with six minutes to go, connecting on a pair of three-pointers.
The battle for the Raptors’ second two-way contract— Toronto already had Jordan Loyd in the first one — had been one of the biggest stories during camp. Introduced a year ago, NBA teams are allowed to carry two additional players under twoway contracts, allowing them to play for both the NBA team, and its G League affiliate — in Toronto’s case, Raptors 905.
The six-foot-10 Boucher spent last season as a two-way player with Golden State. He appeared in one game with the Warriors and averaged 11.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 22.2 minutes in 20 games with Santa Cruz, their G League affiliate.
Boucher played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks, earning Pac-12 all-defensive team honours. His college career was cut short by a torn anterior cruciate ligament. He went undrafted a couple of months later.
Boucher beat out Deng Adel and Eric Moreland for the twoway spot. They were both waived by Toronto on Friday along with guards Kyle Collinsworth and Kay Felder.
The Raptors open the regular season Wednesday at Scotiabank Arena when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers.