Chris Boucher is headed to China, with the former NBA big man set to join the Shanghai Sharks, according to Chinese basketball reporter Zhang Duo and the Chinese Basketball Association.
Boucher’s NBA path was a winding one. He entered the league as an undrafted free agent and spent the bulk of his career in Toronto, with short stops in Golden State and Boston bookending his seven years with the Raptors.
Over 416 regular-season games, including 23 starts, the 6-foot-8 forward/center put up 8.7 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per night. He also appeared in 15 postseason games.
The 33-year-old has already been part of championship teams, winning titles in 2018 and 2019 with the Warriors and Raptors. His best individual stretch came in 2021, when he drew Sixth Man of the Year votes after posting 13.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game for Toronto while shooting .514 from the field, .383 from three and .788 at the line across 60 games.
Boucher’s most recent NBA stop came with Boston. He signed a one-year minimum deal with the Celtics in the 2025 offseason, played in nine games, then was moved to Utah at the 2026 trade deadline as Boston worked to get below the luxury tax line. The Jazz later waived him, leaving him on the open market since then.
His arrival in Shanghai comes with a roster spot opening up. CBA teams can carry three import players, and Boucher is set to replace another former NBA center, JaVale McGee, who is being waived by the Sharks after averaging 5.1 points and 2.9 rebounds in 10.6 minutes over eight games this season.
The Sharks are rolling early, too. Shanghai is 7-1 this fall and already has two more former NBA guards in D’Angelo Russell and Brandon Goodwin. Russell has averaged 18.0 points and 5.7 assists per game, while Goodwin has been even hotter, putting up 19.6 points and 8.6 assists per game.
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