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Pickup of the Day: Xavier Henry

This season I will try to highlight a notable player, based on the games played the previous night, who's available in at least 60% of Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball leagues.

The Sneaky Fantasy Basketball Pickup for Tuesday, October 29, 2013 is Xavier Henry. He's only owned in 7% of Yahoo! leagues right now, but I'm guessing that will change quite a bit by the end of today.

Here's a look at his line last night against the Clippers:

The Lakers bench absolutely killed the Clippers tonight, pouring in 76 points total and 41 in the fourth quarter alone. Being as nobody expected much if anything from the Lakers this year (looking at you, C-Webb), there are several reserves that are readily available in most leagues and played well tonight. Jordan Farmar easily could've been my pick as well, posting a 16-4-6 line with a steal and two three's while playing the most minutes of any Laker. Jodie Meeks, who had productive stretches last year, put up decent numbers as well, and Chris Kaman and Jordan Hill were both solid.

Wesley Johnson was terrible. Wesley Johnson shot 1 for 11 and blew a dunk at the end of the game. Wesley Johnson is still a bust. Sorry, Wesley Johnson.

The prize tonight though goes to Xavier Henry, who I honestly didn't even know was still in the league and previously was only notable to me for pronouncing his name "ZAH-vee-eh." In fact, this is the highest scoring game of his career. It's the first game of the season, so this is obviously ridiculous trying to predict his entire year. Still, Nick Young doesn't do anything but score and not even efficiently, and I don't expect the Lakers to start Steves Blake and Nash together all year. I wouldn't be surprised to see Henry most of the minutes at the wing if he continues playing anywhere close to this, making him still valuable even after Kobe gets back. Whenever that is.

How legit is he? It's the first game of the season, so either we're looking at this year's Most Improved Player or we'll never hear from him again. You take a guess.

Other Notables: Most of these Lakers will fall back to earth by tomorrow, but Farmar looked great and will likely play a lot of minutes backing up Nash. I really don't trust Blake...Shawne Williams was awful, but I think Kaman (who's 57% owned) and not Hill (who's 2% owned) will benefit from that...Andrew Nicholson put up a strong 18 points but only played 19 min and shot an unsustainable 80%. I'm guessing Jason Maxiell is playing ahead of him for defense, but Nicholson won't have much value until he gets the most of that timeshare...Lance Stephenson is owned in 45% of Yahoo! Leagues, so he's not a "sneaky" pickup, but he really should be owned in all leagues until Danny Granger gets back, and I think he'll still be better than Granger even after that.

Yet Another LeBron Opinion

But this is a good one. Usually I read the comments on the Ball Don't Lie blog to laugh at how mean-spirited and racist Yahoo! commenters are. But a Cavs fan named Holden K actually had a poignant thought about LeBron's departure:

The truth is, and most Cavs fans won't admit it, they miss Lebron. Sure he's arrogant, selfish, delusional, and immature, but who cares when you win 66 games?!? People lie and say it's the manner in which he left that pisses them off, which I'm sure is true to some extent, but eventually Cavs fans will have to admit that they would have been mad even if he left with class and tact, because who wants to lose the best player in the NBA and end up with a team full of scrubs? And this is coming from a guy that absolutely hates everything about Lebron's egomaniacal personality.

I agree 100%. Many Clevelanders love going back to "The Decision" and saying they don't mind that LeBron left as much as they do the way he announced it. I've got to call bullshit on that one. We all got our shots in about "The Decision." That's been done to death. The only reason Clevelanders still keep focusing on it is because LeBron is still gone and he truly had every right and good sense to leave.

LeBron James is the best basketball player of this generation, and Clevelanders thought everybody in their downtrodden city had an intimate connection by proximity with this person who seemed so divine. The jilted lover analogy is still the best. If you're a giant loser who lucked into dating the hottest girl in school for years, in the long run you're going to be traumatized by her dumping you no matter how nicely or cruelly she did it.

Cleveland Signs for LeBron James

Love this: "11-8?? LOOKS LIKE YOU LEFT YOUR TALENTS IN CLEVELAND"

This is MEAN: "Like Father, Like Son."

On Tim Duncan

Amusing blurb from SI.com's Chris Mannix:

As age and injury have robbed him of some of his skills, [Tim] Duncan has quietly channeled [David] Robinson. He has ceded the spotlight in San Antonio to Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili without the slightest trace of complaint and embraced the role of mentor to up-and-comers like DeJuan Blair and Tiago Splitter. Think that's easy? Ask Allen Iverson.

Read the full article here.