Chris Boucher: A Veteran Option for the Knicks' Third Big Man

The New York Knicks have one nagging item left on the summer checklist: finding a third big man they can trust.

Ariel Hukporti is gone. Jonas Valanciunas slipped away. Their offer sheet for Moussa Cisse? Matched by the Dallas Mavericks. With training camp closing in, the market has thinned out, and the Knicks have shifted from aggressive hunting to careful browsing.

One name refuses to go away.

Chris Boucher: Veteran Answer to a Simple Question?

Joseph Randazzo of Knicks on SI has put forward a straightforward solution: take a hard look at Chris Boucher.

“The Knicks likely consider some inexpensive options to fill out their depth at the center position. Chris Boucher may be an intriguing choice for them in their search,” Randazzo wrote, noting the appeal of a seasoned presence on a team with title ambitions.

Boucher is 33. He’s been around championship locker rooms. He held minor roles during the 2018–19 Golden State Warriors’ run and then with the 2019–20 Toronto Raptors. He knows what it looks like when the season stretches into June and every possession feels like a verdict.

He also checks a few boxes Tom Thibodeau and Mike Brown tend to value. Boucher can slide across the frontcourt, work as a small-ball five or stretch four, and give a second unit some shape. He can step out and hit the occasional three. He can rotate from the weak side and challenge shots at the rim. On paper, that’s exactly the kind of versatility you want from a third-string big.

On paper. Last season told a different story.

A Difficult Year, and a Motivated Big

If the Knicks decide to bring Boucher in, they won’t be signing the version who once looked like an emerging rotation piece in Toronto. They’d be betting on a veteran stung by how last year unfolded.

Boucher split his 2023–24 campaign between the Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz and never found a rhythm in either stop. Joe Mazzulla barely used him: just nine appearances, 2.3 points and 2 rebounds per game, with 32% shooting from the field and a brutal 13.3% from three. Those aren’t just quiet numbers; they’re the kind that get you pushed to the edge of a roster.

Boston moved him on. Utah waived him. The rest of his season played out from the sidelines, watching, waiting, and wondering where the next opportunity would come from.

That kind of year can bury a career. It can also sharpen a player. In the right role, with expectations calibrated and minutes defined, Boucher still profiles as a capable bench piece. He doesn’t need to be a star in New York. He just needs to survive a shift, protect the rim, space the floor enough to keep the paint clean for drivers, and fit into a locker room that already knows who it is.

His time around championship teams suggests he’d understand the hierarchy, the standards, and the scrutiny that comes with a Knicks group openly chasing the NBA Finals again.

One Option Among Many

Boucher, though, is not the only path.

The free-agent market still holds several big men who could fill the third-string role. Some offer more size, some more shooting, some more mobility. There are also trade avenues for New York’s front office to explore, with attainable bigs around the league who might be pried loose for the right price.

Boucher is a file on the desk, not a mandate.

The Knicks could decide his recent form doesn’t justify the gamble and pivot to another veteran. They could chase a younger, developmental big instead, someone who can be stashed at the end of the bench and molded over time.

They might even choose a different route entirely: roll into the season with just two primary bigs in the rotation, trust their small-ball lineups, and leave that last spot open for flexibility. Every season shakes loose a few names. A big could be waived midyear. Someone buried on another depth chart could ask out. The market never really closes; it just changes shape.

For now, New York holds something rare in this league: options.

The pressure to nail a third-string center spot isn’t the same as landing a star, but on a team with real championship expectations, the margins matter. The next move won’t decide the Knicks’ season, yet it might be the difference between surviving an injury stretch in February and watching a promising run wobble.

Chris Boucher or someone else, veteran flyer or patient wait—how the Knicks play this small piece of business will say plenty about how confident they are in the roster they already have.