With Kristaps Porzingis’ trade to the Atlanta Hawks, the Celtics had to let go of their unicorn. KP’s unique skill set brought the Celtics two of the most important things in basketball: spacing and rim protection. Chris Boucher, coming from the Toronto Raptors, will now try to step into Porzingis’ shoes. At 6-foot-9, and with a 34% career average from beyond the arc, will he be able to become the next Porzingis?
What will be his role offensively?
Based on his shooting map, thirty-seven percent of his attempts came at the rim, 22% from the corners, and 47% from beyond the arc overall. From time to time, we will see him launching a few floaters, but mostly jump shots from three and attempts at the rim.
His jump shots from three are always assisted. He will be a catch-and-shoot threat but won’t be able to pull up or create his own space to punish opponents from deep. The main pivot point will be: can he drag opposing centers away from the rim? Looking back, there are notable doubts about that, and this is probably why Boston signed him to only a one-year contract.
First of all, he is not always guarded beyond the line, especially on the weak side, because his shooting motion is slow and opponents can recover. Moreover, his inability to attack with his size makes it easy for teams to assign a wing or a guard to defend him on the perimeter, as it’s unlikely that he will bully them to the rim.
Nonetheless, metrics indicate that he has had a positive impact on his team’s spacing over the last few years. Toronto’s FG% at the rim increased from 61.7% to 65.3% when he was on the court last year, and from 66.9% to 69.9% the year before. This remains a small sample over two years on a tanking team, but the numbers are encouraging and suggest that Chris could have a positive impact on the Celtics’ spacing.
While his shooting has been the most covered part of his offensive skill set in recent years, Chris Boucher has a secret weapon that could justify even more the Celtics’ choice to sign him.
Boucher’s secret weapon
While his shooting might bring back some Porzingis flashbacks, Boucher’s offensive impact might actually be closer to Luke Kornet’s in some areas—especially on the glass.
Over his career, his teams have consistently been far better on the offensive glass when he was on the floor. Last season, for example, the offensive rebound rate went from 27.6% to 33.8%. When Chris was on the court, the Toronto Raptors grabbed an offensive rebound on more than one out of every three missed shots. And this has been the case throughout his entire career.
With the increasing importance of offensive rebounds over the last few seasons, this could be a great pick for the Celtics to generate more possessions on the offensive end.
His shooting ability might be less impactful than expected, and he won’t add much to offensive creation, but his energy on the glass could be game changing in some situations. In a 5-out setup or next to another big man, be ready to see Chris Boucher jumping on every miss to extend possessions and score on putbacks.
After looking at what his offensive impact could be, let’s dive into what he might bring on the other end of the floor.
What can he bring on defense?
His size and length are impressive, but that doesn’t make him a great rim protector. He averages only one block per 36 minutes, and according to NBA tracking, he decreased his direct opponents’ rim efficiency by just 1%—ten times less than players like Luke Kornet and Kristaps Porzingis.
Nonetheless, he has defensive upside thanks to his mobility and length. Defensively, we might find him in a situation similar to Jayson Tatum’s: lurking off-ball at the nail, reading the game from the weak side, and ready to jump on a dead ball or intercept a weak pass.
He will also be able to fit into switch-everything defensive coverage, though he might be too skinny to deal with the bigger bodies of the league. Using him as a wrecking ball on defense, with high mobility, could be the key to exploiting his size and length. But will he have the motor and energy to handle this demanding defensive role? Time will tell.
Chris Boucher probably won’t be the next unicorn. His shooting isn’t as elite as Porzingis’, nor is his rim protection. But his unique skill set and body could still bring something new to the Celtics. Joe Mazzulla has often talked about how much the possession battle matters to him, and Chris Boucher might just be the perfect fit to help the Celtics win that battle on the court.
