On board

Boucher returns on guaranteed three-year, $35.2-million deal

There are other shoes to drop, with more money to spend, and the Raptors have yet to address a single issue as the NBA free agency floodgates opened Thursday night.

They will do things, of course, because the process is still in its infancy and totally standing pat is not an alternative, but they have at least taken care of some of their business already.

In a couple of widely anticipated moves, Toronto brought back freeagents Chris Boucher and Thaddeus Young and now has to go about tinkering more on the periphery of a playing rotation that could use some help.

Neither of the deals agreed to minutes after free agency began Thursday can become official until next week. But according to NBA sources and several internet reports, Boucher gets a three-year, $35.2-million (U.S.) contract, while Young will sign an incentive-laden deal that could be worth $16 million over two years.

Both are logical moves, but there have to be more to come.

The Raptors still need backcourt depth and shooting, and general manager Bobby Webster and vicechair Masai Ujiri still haven’t tapped into their financial resources. They have the mid-level cap exception of just more than $10 million and the biannual exception of about $4.5 million to entice a dwindling group of free-agent possibilities.

A handful of logical targets went off the market on the first day — Victor Oladipo stayed in Miami, Malik Monk moved from the Lakers to Sacramento, Nic Claxton went back to Brooklyn — leaving the Raptors with a decidedly second tier to pursue in the coming days.

That’s not a huge issue, though. With Boucher and Young back in the fold, the Raptors have retained the entire core of last season’s team.

There are upgrades possible and necessary, but mostly in secondary roles as Ujiri and Webster both said at end-of-season media sessions.

There was no doubt the Raptors would do all they could to keep Boucher, and no doubt he was amenable to a return after blossoming in the second half of last season in a backup frontcourt role. It paid off handsomely with a fully guaranteed deal and a significant raise from a $7 million last season.

“I wanted to get to this (free agency) position one day and be able to say that I’ve had a great season and have options and … just be satisfied with my game,” the 29-year-old Montrealer said. “Obviously, I didn’t really enjoy doing hustle plays until I really realized that that’s what I was. That’s something that I could grow from now, bringing it every time.”

He averaged 9.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and became an energetic rim-runner on offence as well as a disruptive defensive presence, averaging 1.2 blocked shots.

“I love Toronto, and Toronto did a lot for me,” he said after the Raptors season. “From the young player that came here that didn’t know much to who I am now, I owe it all to Toronto.”

Young was obtained from the San Antonio Spurs in a February deal for Goran Dragic. The Raptors also parted with a protected first-round draft pick in that swap for a secondrounder, which they used to select Christian Koloko.

Young didn’t have a huge on-court role in just 26 games, but the 34year-old veteran quickly became a locker-room leader. And he quickly came to appreciate what Toronto has to offer away from the court as well.

“Everything is just elite about this experience, and it was a great experience for me,” he said.