NBA: Top 10 candidates for 2019-20 Most Improved Player

A second-round pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017, Thomas Bryant already made a huge leap last season after being claimed off waivers by the Washington Wizards.

Bryant did well enough that Washington re-signed the 22-year-old big man to a three-year, $25 million dollar contract this summer. That’s a huge step up from the $1.38 million he made in his first season as a starter in 2018-19.

At 6-foot-11 and 248 pounds, Bryant showed potential for being able to stretch his range, while also producing the best 2-point field goal percentage in the NBA last season.

Expected to back up Dwight Howard last season, Bryant wound up starting 53 games and appearing in 72 — a huge increase in workload from his 15 games and 72 minutes as a rookie with the Lakers — and produced decent numbers.

He averaged 10.5 points and 6.3  rebounds in 20.8 minutes per game, shooting 61.6 percent overall and hitting 33.3 percent on 1.4 3-point attempts per game.

Inside the arc, he shot a blistering 68.5 percent and his 61.6 percent overall mark was fourth-best in the NBA.

He took just over half of his attempts in the restricted area — 51 percent — and converted a ridiculous 82.0 percent, with 117 dunks — roughly a quarter of his total shot attempts.

But he was adequate elsewhere, making 46.6 percent from three to 10 feet, 41.4 percent from mid-range and 44.4 percent from deep mid-range (which accounted for 14.8 percent of his shots).

If he can develop a better touch from the corners — where he shot only 20.0 percent on the season — he can become that much more efficient offensively.

He enters this season as the starter at the 5 for the Wizards and will be looking to make good on Washington’s investment.

Bryant would be the fourth Washington player to win the award, but the first of the Wizards era. Former Bullets Pervis Ellison (1991-92), Don MacLean (1993-94) and Gheorghe Muresan (1995-96) all won within a five-year span.