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When news broke that the Boston Celtics were trading recently acquired combo forward Georges Niang and two future second-round picks to the Utah Jazz for RJ Luis Jr., it left fans wondering how Brad Stevens would further address his frontcourt heading into a forthcoming season without Jayson Tatum.
Well, as it turns out, that wonder lasted all of a few minutes, as the C's rapidly turned around and added a familiar face from the Eastern Conference to their bench, signing long-time Toronto Raptors forward Chris Boucher to a one-year, $3.3 million deal, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.
“Free agent forward Chris Boucher has agreed to a one-year, $3.3 million contract with the Boston Celtics, agent Sam Permut of Roc Nation tells ESPN. Boucher lands a guaranteed deal with the Celtics and is expected to have a significant role in the frontcourt,” Charania wrote.
“Boucher departs Toronto, where he has the all-time franchise record in points, rebounds, blocks, minutes, and games played off the bench. He also was the Raptors' last remaining member of the 2019 NBA championship team.”
Originally acquired in a three-team deal with the Atlanta Hawks and the Brooklyn Nets that also included Kristaps Porzingis and Terance Mann, Niang looked like the sort of connecting 3-and-D forward who could play alongside Jaylen Brown now and Tatum in the future as a viable top-8 player on a very good team.
While Boucher isn't as good of an outside shooter as the player he's replacing, he's a bit more athletic, a better rebounder, and the kind of player who can contribute this fall, when the Celtics will be in full-on talent evaluation mode as they hope to reload for the return of Tatum in the future.
Even if Boucher is only on a one-year deal, he should more or less be an even Niang replacement, which at this point in the summer, is all Stevens can really ask for.
🚨 Chris Boucher has agreed to a 1-year, $3.3 million contract with the Celtics, per @ShamsCharania. pic.twitter.com/pd1ZnX61vc
— ClutchPoints NBA (@ClutchPointsNBA) August 5, 2025
