EL SEGUNDO - The Los Angeles Lakers have signed free agent guard Xavier Henry, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.
“Xavier earned a spot on our team last season after being a training camp invitee, and we hope he continues the dedication to improving he has displayed for us thus far,” said Kupchak. “When healthy, Xavier provided our team with an offensive punch, and we expect he’ll strive to add to his skillset and become a well-rounded player.”
In 43 games (five starts) last season, Henry averaged career-highs across-the-board with 10.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steals in 21.1 minutes. The 23-year-old led the team in scoring seven times and had hit double-figures in scoring in 16 of his last 27 games before undergoing season-ending surgeries on his left wrist and right knee on April 11. Among his highlights last season were single-game career-bests in points (27, vs. POR 12/1), rebounds (eight, vs. MIN 11/10), assists (four, vs. MIN 12/20) and steals (three, five times).
Xavier (pronounced zah-vee-ay) is entering his fifth season in the NBA, after playing for the Memphis Grizzlies (2010-11), New Orleans Hornets (2011-13) and Lakers (2013-14) since being drafted with the 12th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by Memphis. Born in Ghent, Belgium, Henry declared for the Draft after his freshman season at Kansas, where he earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and Big 12 All-Freshman Team honors.