SBN Reacts: Raptors fans want Boucher and Young — and shooting

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Each week, we send out questions to the most plugged-in Toronto Raptors fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to join Reacts.

Free agency has begun! It’s already chaos out there, as Kevin Durant wants a trade and superstars are signing max contract extensions all over the place.

The Toronto Raptors? They’re quietly TCBing (taking care of business). At least, one assumes. They never leak a damn word!

But Raptors HQ fans, y’all are a vocal bunch! As such, we asked you the other day for your hot (well, mild) takes on free agency and what you wanted to see the Raptors do. Stay the course, pretty much, as it turns out!

First, we asked if you would rather the team just brought the band back (i.e., re-sign Chris Boucher and Thaddeus Young) or sign some fresh faces.

Most of you said... bring our dudes back!

Fair enough. As I’ve said, I love Boucher, and I love Young’s fit — at least on paper. His age scares me but hey, with a full camp in Nick Nurse’s system, he might be the perfect sixth man for this team.

Now, as we all know, having been traumatized by the Aron Baynes experience in 2021, the Raptors went through the entirety of last season without a true centre. Despite constant cries of “they need bigs!” they made it work, winning 48 games and getting the fifth seed.

They also struggled, at times, shooting the basketball. Pascal Siakam still hasn’t recovered his pre-COVID shooting stroke. Boucher laid bricks for the first three months of the year. Gary Trent Jr. was and is streaky as hell. Fred VanVleet had no legs left by March.

So we asked — bigger need, shooting or size?

Pretty overwhelmingly, you think the team needs shooting. No disagreement here! Bobby, save us from more brickfests, please!

All right, you’ve had your say... now it’s time for the players to have theirs! Deals are already flying in, so let’s get back to it! Look out for Raptors free agency updates, if there are any, right here on Raptors HQ.

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