NBA: “I think we should have a team in Montreal” –Chris Boucher

One NBA preseason game per year is great, but many people dream of Montreal one day hosting its own team in the largest professional Basketball league in the world.

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“I’ve been saying it for a long time, I think we should have a team [à Montréal]but it’s much more difficult when it’s just one person who says it,” commented Quebecer Chris Boucher, visiting his home for the current Toronto Raptors training camp, as well as for a preparatory match scheduled for Sunday at the Bell Center. “We need more support.”

The idea is far from far-fetched and a possible expansion is emerging in the NBA. Long postponed, the project to go from 30 to 32 teams is on the cards for the league, now that the players have concluded a new collective agreement and the television rights issue has been settled. Obviously, American cities like Las Vegas and Seattle seem to have a head start on Montreal, but the NBA could very well climb up to 36 teams in the longer term.

“Over the years, with a lot of young people here arriving in the NBA, that should help,” projected Boucher, who, in passing, salutes the good work of the Montreal Alliance organization, within of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CBLE).

Good words for Mathurin

Among the youngest ambassadors who can inspire dreams of an NBA club in Montreal, Boucher is full of praise for Bennedict Mathurin, a 22-year-old prospect playing with the Indiana Pacers.

“Bennedict is young and talented,” Boucher described him. At his age, he is already very strong physically and since he is still young, there are a lot of things he can learn and it will only improve the way he plays.

In June 2022, Mathurin became the earliest drafted Quebecer in NBA history when the Pacers made him the sixth selection overall. Since then, the Montrealer has had some good times, but he also suffered a shoulder injury that ended his season last March.

“At the start of a career, there are often ups and downs,” said Boucher. Sometimes there are matches where you will play a lot of minutes, others where you will be left out more. With the talent he has, I’m not worried about him and he shouldn’t be worried about himself either.

A second team in Canada?

Boucher is more skeptical about a possible candidacy for Montreal, in the event of an upcoming expansion into the NBA. He appeals to investors!

Last November, Commissioner Adam Silver nevertheless let it be known that he was aware of a certain interest coming from Montreal, but also from Vancouver. Touting the Canadian market, he does not close the door to the possibility of establishing a second team there, even if the Vancouver Grizzlies adventure ended in 2001 with a move to Memphis.

For now, Montrealers will have at least one preparatory match to get their teeth into, Sunday, at the Bell Center, between the Raptors and the Washington Wizards. In fact, this is the eighth time that Montreal has hosted such a game since the creation of the NBA Canada Series in 2012.