Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
With Los Angeles Lakers SG Kobe Bryant still on the sideline for an undetermined amount of time, many underappreciated players at getting minutes in LA this season. Some of these guys can still be decent fantasy basketball options in the short term, though.
Probably the best option not named Pau Gasol for fantasy owners to look for is SG Xavier Henry. The former Kansas star has continued to turn heads in the early part of the season and he has looked like a natural scorer. In the season-opener, Henry dropped 22 points on city rival, the Los Angeles Clippers. He was 8-13 from the field (61.5%) and knocked down three three-pointers. It was truly a breakout fantasy performance.
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Henry is now averaging 14.3 points per game and is also adding a respectable 4.3 rebounds. More importantly, though, Henry has claimed the starting spot on the roster over Nick Young. Henry may be getting just 28 minutes per game at the moment, but that number will go up with his recent promotion.
Henry is also eligible to be plugged into both the shooting guard and small forward position. This is huge in daily leagues, because it gives owners more flexibility when filling out lineups each night. Henry may not produce like an elite small forward, but he can certainly be worth a spot-start during one of the NBA’s off days.
Henry was added in thousands of Yahoo leagues this week alone and he can have great value in any deeper 10-man leagues. He may be a bit of a hinderance in the categories of field goal percentage and assists, but he will be a steady contributor of points and three-pointers as long as he is in the starting lineup.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
