3 Raptors who could increase trade value in January and February
By Mike Luciano
2. PF Chris Boucher
The Raptors appeared to make a long-term commitment to Boucher as a herald of their unique style of basketball. However, he’s seemed more like an expensive redundancy with a skillset that overlaps with many of his teammates instead of a playmaker that can help lead this team to hard-fought victories.
Boucher is averaging 9.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game this season, but his first year after agreeing to a three-year deal with Toronto has been defined by some wild inconsistency. Boucher will be an unstoppable bench vacuum who gobbles up rebounds one day, but he’ll be completely invisible the next.
The Toronto Raptors could look to deal Chris Boucher.
The Raptors can’t go into next season (or the rest of this year, for that matter) with the same alignment of poor shooters due to a self-imposed emphasis on length. The lack of shooting on this team has been so bad that getting more should be the top priority for the short and long-term health of this team.
Boucher can still be effective for a contender. Look no further than how he had a terrific finish to last year with the Raptors during their postseason run. Having said that, Toronto is at a point where they can’t keep trying to plug a square peg like Boucher into a round hole.