Things might not be feeling particularly hot for Toronto right now, but even during this rough stretch, the story around the Raptors' most notable move of the summer remains worth reflecting on. That move was signing free agent Sandro Mamukelashvili to a very budget-friendly deal and letting longtime fan favorite Chris Boucher leave for the Boston Celtics. With about two months of the 2025-26 season behind them both, this decision continues to look ever so justified for the Toronto Raptors.
Raptors made the right call with Mamukelashvili over Boucher
At the time of writing, Chris Boucher has not played for the Celtics since November 23 against the Orlando Magic, marking nine straight games on the sidelines. Although, this has largely been the case for most of the season. Nevertheless, Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla said a while back that Boucher is always ready to step in and that his role is to "impact winning", even if he isn’t a regular part of the rotation. Boucher's stats for the 2025-26 season are 2.3 points on 37.9 percent true shooting, 2.2 rebounds, in about 11.4 minutes per game with only eight total appearances this year.
In contrast, Toronto scored an incredible value move by signing Sandro Mamukelashvili. Besides developing strong bonds with his new teammates and earning a fan favorite status similar to Boucher among Raptors fans, Mamu’s 2025-26 season stats speak for themselves: 9.7 points on 61.8 percent true shooting, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. He is averaging 19.5 minutes per game as a key bench piece, with a total of 25 appearances for Toronto.
Whether you see Toronto's choice to go with Mamu over Boucher as a deliberate or symbolic move is up for debate, but it's clear the Raptors opted to push for new blood by closing the chapter on a longtime part of their history with CB and focusing on building something fresh with Mamukelashvili. While Mamu doesn’t fully solve Toronto’s obvious need for a bull-strong backup center, the Raptors have still found a way to successfully integrate the Georgian-American in a capacity where he can thrive.
He often lives up to his price tag and role on most nights, which has to feel good for the Raptors’ front office and their fanbase after losing such an important mainstay. It’s definitely tough to see Boucher’s career on the decline, but as we’ve seen with others like Tyus Jones this season or even former Raptors big man Precious Achiuwa (before he got picked up by Sacramento), the NBA is incredibly cutthroat and things can change in the blink of an eye.