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

Caris LeVert of the Brooklyn Nets was an early favorite in the Most Improved Player race last season before his campaign was dramatically altered on Nov. 12, when he dislocated his right foot in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

LeVert wound up missing a little more than half the season and took some time to get his rhythm back once he returned just before the All-Star break.

In 13 games before he was hurt, LeVert had averaged 19.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 30.7 minutes per game while shooting 47.9 percent overall and 32.8 percent on 4.5 3-point tries a night.

That included buzzer-beaters to give Brooklyn wins over the New York Knicks at home and the Denver Nuggets on the road.

In 40 games overall last season, LeVert put up 13.7 points, 3.9 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 26.6 minutes a game and shot 42.9 percent overall and 31.2 percent on 3.9 triple tries a game.

But he caught fire late in the regular season and carried that through into the Nets’ first-round loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, when he led Brooklyn in scoring at 21.0 points per game while also putting up 4.6 boards, 3.0 dimes and 1.0 steals in 28.8 minutes a night, starting the final two games of the series.

He shot 49.3 percent against Philadelphia and was a rock-solid 12-for-26 (46.2 percent) from deep.

Where he struggled after his return from the foot injury last season was finishing at the rim, where he shot just 58.1 percent on the season — down from 65.4 percent in 2017-18.

But in the playoffs, he converted 14-of-20 (70 percent), a sign that he was back to 100 percent.

LeVert figures to be the starter at one of the wing spots this season along with Joe Harris, teamed with new point guard Kyrie Irving.

If he trends the way he did in the postseason, he could become the first Net to win Most Improved Player, following a third-place finish by Spencer Dinwiddie in 2017-18 and a runner-up spot for former Net D’Angelo Russell last season.