MONTREAL — When Chris Boucher first played an NBA pre-season game in his home city in 2018, he was a raw talent trying to crack the Toronto Raptors roster.
Six years later, the 31-year-old is back in Montreal as the longest-serving Raptor — and the only remaining player from the 2019 championship team.
"It's been nuts. It's been crazy,” said Boucher, reflecting on his journey as the Raptors opened training camp at the Université du Québec à Montréal on Tuesday.
"People thought that surely I would only do a year or two, but now it's been six or seven years, and I’ve been here longer than anyone else on that team,” he added to a pack of French-Canadian reporters there to greet the homegrown talent.
Toronto’s camp — which includes an open practice at McGill University on Friday night — runs through Sunday’s Raptors versus Washington Wizards pre-season matchup at Montreal’s Bell Centre.
Although Boucher has reached veteran status, he’s still playing for his next contract.
Boucher is entering the final year of his deal after watching his role on the Raptors diminish last season, but says he isn’t concerned following a constructive off-season where he worked closely with head coach Darko Rajaković.
"I'm not worried. I've put in a lot of work,” Boucher said. “I've talked with the coach, I've talked with the GM, we've spent a lot of time figuring out what I can do.
“The team is young, and I've put myself in a good position to change what happened last year."
As he prepares to play in front of friends and family this week, Boucher is focused on having a solid camp after averaging 6.4 points and 14.1 minutes last season — his lowest numbers in years. He also played just 50 games because he sustained a knee injury in March.
Over the off-season, Boucher said he trained with Rajaković on his playmaking and understanding of the game.
They also worked on improving his mindset and “trying to get me to a better place,” and the head coach took notice.
“We had amazing and heart-to-heart conversations this summer, and I was really impressed with Chris, what he achieved,” Rajaković said. “He worked on his body, he got stronger, he added a couple of pounds of muscle, he was disciplined, he came in the gym, he put in a lot of work.
“That gives me a lot of confidence that he's ready for the next step, that he's ready to grow and he's ready to fit in with our team.”
Rajaković said the season would dictate Boucher’s role and minutes, but he expects the Canadian to help younger players with his leadership while crashing the boards and playing disruptive defence when he’s on the floor.
“I want all 15 guys to put me in a really tough situation to make decisions about who's going to be playing,” Rajaković said. “Chris is doing an amazing job, and I can see him doing a very important job for our team this year.”
Boucher may be in his 30s, but likes to remind people that he picked up the game far later than most.
“There are a lot of people who have been playing since they were eight or nine years old, but I started when I was 20,” said Boucher, who went undrafted in the NBA.
DAVION'S DEFENCE
Raptors president Masai Ujiri said Monday that the Raptors' defence being among the league's worst last season was "not something we're proud of."
Off-season acquisition Davion Mitchell wants to be part of the solution.
"That’s the reason I’m in this league," the point guard said. "Playing defence, putting pressure on the ball, disrupting people offensively ... that's the reason why I'm here."
The 26-year-old Mitchell, a ninth-overall draft pick in 2021, averaged 5.3 points and 1.9 assists with the Sacramento Kings last season, but has a reputation for his smothering on-ball defence.
"He has a good track history of doing that on a high, high level. My conversations with Davion go even further," Rajaković said. "He needs to be better off ball … getting in the right spots, not falling asleep for a half of a second, just being as disruptive off the ball as much he is on the ball."
BARNES EXCUSED
The Raptors excused star forward Scottie Barnes from the start of training camp due to personal reasons. Barnes did not travel with the team to Montreal, but the Raptors said he was expected to join the team later in the week.
Barnes, 23, averaged 19.9 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.1 assists in his third NBA campaign last season and earned his first all-star selection.
Rajaković said he expects the team’s centrepiece to get up to speed in no time once he’s back.
"Scottie spent a lot of time around the team this year, we have communication daily," Rajaković said. "He's an extremely smart player, so he's going to be able to pick that up very quickly."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2024.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press