Day 59: Larry Sanders is back. But what does that mean?

(Illustration courtesy of Timothy McAuliffe/ESPN)

Big news. Larry Sanders has been medically cleared to play, and the embattled Bucks center will suit up tonight after missing the last two months with a thumb injury that he sustained in a bar fight. This is, of course, great news if you happen to own Larry Sanders -- and by the way, if he's still available in your league for some reason, you need to stop what you're doing and add him RIGHT NOW. If you happen to own John Henson, on the other hand, this is the news you've been dreading since you picked him up not that long ago.

Sanders will come off the bench tonight and is expected to play only 20 minutes. But he's the franchise investment, the guy the team gave big money to in the offseason. And once he gets a few games under his belt, Sanders is a lock to move into the starting lineup, where he's bound to improve on last year's averages of 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game, which he accomplished while averaging only 27 minutes a game. Yes, he was playing like garbage early in the season, and the absurd circumstances of his injury make him somewhat hard to rely on. But he's one of the best shot-blockers in the league, and the team has made a concerted effort to feature him since they annexed Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis. So barring another insane injury, like sticking his hand in a snowblower ala Joe Sakic, he should be an awesome guy to own the rest of the year.

The ramifications of his return should be plentiful, since the Bucks seem to have an infinite supply of forwards and centers who are going to be effected by this, including John Henson, Ersan Ilyasova, Khris Middleton, Caron Butler, Giannis Antetokounmpo (who I pray falls out of the rotation), Ekpe Udoh, Miroslav Raduljica and Zaza Pachulia. Henson has been by far the best performer of them all, and is averaging 12.6 points, 8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks this season, which is damn near what Sanders was doing a year ago. Henson has played so well that he may get to stay in the starting lineup for a while. But Bucks coach Larry Drew has such a tendency to rearrange his lineup on the drop of a dime that it's worth wondering what Henson's role is going to be now, especially since Ilyasova is also back and Middleton has been playing well lately.

The way I see it, Sanders is going to be the guy you'll want to own, while Henson, Butler, Ant-man, Ilyasova, Udoh and Middleton will jockey for playing time at the forward and center spots, to mixed results. The Bucks are such a hectic let's-try-this-crazy-idea-and-see-if-it-works franchise, and so many of the guys I just named are injury liabilities, that it's more or less a crapshoot as to which of them will finish with the most value. If I had to rank the guys behind Sanders, I'd put Middleton 1, Henson 2, Ant-guy 3, Butler 4, Ilyasova 5 (he just can't stay healthy), Udoh 6, Raduljica 7, and Pachulia DFL. But that's practically a blind guess, so you should take that with a grain of salt.

And now, onto the non-Larry-Sanders players of the league.

• Kyrie Irving capitalized on Thursday's game against the Hawks going to double-overtime. Irving went for 40 points on 17-33 shooting with 9 assists, 4 steals and a block. After a really slow start that even included a scoreless night, Irving has been awesome lately. He doesn't get enough assists to be in the same class as CP3 or Steph Curry, but he and Damian Lillard are in the next closest tier.
• Not to be outdone, Jeff Teague put up 34 points, 14 assists and 3 assists in 49 minutes against Cleveland. Teague is in the midst of a fantastic season, and has been one of the best late-round bargains to date.
• Blake Griffin and Chris Paul went off in yesterday's overtime game, with Griffin going for 35-and-11, and Paul putting up 34 points, 16 assists and 6 steals. DeAndre Jordan, meanwhile, put up 19 rebounds and 2 blocks, while Jamal Crawford put up 21. The moral of the story is that it's awesome to own players when they play in long overtime games.
• Robin Lopez went for 11 points and 15 rebounds yesterday. Lopez is good enough that he needs to be owned everywhere, but he rarely puts up lines that make your jaw drop. He's a decent player who happens to be in a fantastic situation where he's getting a ton of minutes, and considering how well the Blazers are doing, that's not about to change any time soon.
• Lou Williams was quiet last night, producing just 7 points on 3-9 shooting. Williams has exploded a few times this year, including a week ago when he went for 25 points. But he has absolutely no momentum, and with Teague and Kyle Korver (20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 three's) playing fantastic, there just isn't much of an avenue to for Williams to be productive on a regular basis. That could change, but for now, there are better guys to own.
• James Harden had a rather unbelievable line last night. He went only 2-9 from the floor, but he shot a whopping 25 free-throws and made 22 of them, so he still finished with a gaudy 27 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Harden is having yet another tremendous season, and the only thing threatening his status as one of the five best players in fantasy basketball is that he gets hurt all the time. But hey, he's sensational when he's out there.
• Terrence Jones went for 20 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks last night. Jones has put together two incredible games in a row, and it's worth noting that because Omer Asik's mysterious injury is keeping him from getting in games, it's looking like Jones will continue to get all the minutes at power forward at least until the February trade deadline. There's absolutely zero reason why should be unowned right now.
• Hey, Danny Green is still alive and breathing. The Spurs wingman was awesome on Thursday, making all 7 of his shots and finishing with 22 points, 5 three's, 3 steals, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Green is something of a rarity among three-point specialists, as he's actually capable of contributing in almost every category, including steals and blocks. On a different team, Green could be an incredible stud, but alas, he's on San Antonio, where he comes off the bench and has to fend off Marco Belinelli and Manu Ginobili for points. He's not an awful fantasy option, but he's so freakin' inconsistent that you'll have to take withstand some absolute dog performances from him in between the good ones.