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2025 Free Agents - Chris Boucher

After a couple years of only showing some flashes of production and getting benched in the playoffs, Boucher has received more trust from coach Nick Nurse from 2020-2023, playing over 20 minutes per game and being a regular part of the rotation. However, he only played 14 minutes per game in '23-'24 as his role declined a bit. Despite having a reputation as being a stretch big, Boucher is only a 34% career 3-point shooter. He has been fine from two-point range, but his overall 60% true shooting is just decent for a big. He does have a solid offensive rebounding rate. On defense, Boucher moves his feet well defensively and uses his wiry athleticism to get some blocks, but hasn't developed the anticipation and discipline to be a true rim protector. After peaking with a 3.9% block rate in '20-'21, he has declined in that area, posting a career low block rate of 1.7% in '23-'24, just above average for his position. He also struggles against the bigger centers, as his thin frame makes it hard for him to battle inside. Boucher can be a solid change of pace big off the bench that can hit pick-and-pop threes, but think there is some limited upside there as a rotation player. Could a good team trust him to be in their playoff rotation? Boucher will also already be 32 as a free agent in 2025, so teams may be worried about regression in his play, especially since he has already shown some signs of that.

Summary

Boucher will be an unrestricted free agent with a $20.5 million cap hold and Full Bird rights, meaning the Raptors will have no restrictions on re-signing him. Because the Raptors will likely be operating over the cap, and because Boucher's cap hold likely exceeds his starting salary, his cap hold is not really relevant. Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Boucher as even teams without cap space could use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, or possibly even the Taxpayer MLE or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. It's also possible that Boucher only gets minimum offers.

Cap Considerations

Mo Bamba (1 year minimum, 2024) Jock Landale (4-3 years, $32 million, 2023) Manute Bol (1 year minimum, 2024)

Player/Contract Comparison

Potential Teams: Pelicans, Raptors, Clippers, Wizards, Suns

Predicted Contract: 1-year, $3.1 million ($2.3 million cap hit) with the Pelicans

Last updated: 9/18/2024

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