If you’ve never heard of Chris Boucher, he went from washing dishes as a dishwasher to eventually now becoming a breakout player in the NBA. As a 19 year old, he was a dishwasher and dropped out of high school at 16. Fast forward to now, Boucher is one of the top blooming stars in the league this season so far.
Chris Boucher is averaging an insane 16.1 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 2.5 BPG on 60.3% from the field and 46.9% from three. The crazy thing is, Boucher is putting these numbers as a bench player averaging only 23.8 minutes per game this season. Looking at his minutes per 36, he’d average 24.3 PPG, 10.6 RPG, and 3.8 BPG. Those scoring numbers per 36 are better than Anthony Davis, Brandon Ingram, Bam Adebayo, and many other stars in the league.
Boucher has shown great shooting ability and defensive ability in the limited minutes he’s gotten with the Raptors. On the hoopscue IG page I suggested the Raptors trade Siakam for a star SG/SF and have Boucher as the starting power forward and I don’t regret it. I think Boucher is an efficient scorer and has shown the ability to excel when give a chance.
Not only can he score, but he also can play defense at a high level. Chris Boucher ranks 3rd in the league in blocks per game when he only averages 23.8 minutes per game and doesn’t even start… yet. He’s a better defender than Siakam and has been a good replacement for Serge Ibaka.
Sure, some are talking about Boucher’s season and how he’s playing, but not enough are. A lot of attention has swayed to Christian Wood & Jerami Grant’s breakout season (rightfully so), but we can’t forget Chris Boucher and the numbers he’s putting up on limited minutes.
