Nets fans looking for any silver lining during this long rebuild just got one. First-round pick Caris LeVert is finally available to make his NBA debut Monday at Barclays Center against the Wizards.
That’s not a guarantee the rookie combo guard will play, or even be active. But considering he hasn’t played a competitive game in almost a year, it bodes well that Nets doctors team have cleared him for this one.
After suffering a Jones fracture on Dec. 30 — the third break of his left foot in a 22-month span at Michigan — LeVert underwent surgery in March. But his most recent procedure was a reconstruction performed by Dr. Martin O’Malley, the Nets’ renowned foot specialist who has also worked on Brook Lopez and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, as well as Golden State star Kevin Durant.
As part of the reconstruction, LeVert, 22, had bone taken from of his hip and grafted to his foot. And with intimate knowledge of LeVert’s medical situation, the rebuilding Nets dealt away Thaddeus Young for the 20th pick in the June draft in order to snag the ex-Wolverine and set him on the path to rehabilitation.
“We’ll be progressing him slowly and building him in,” general manager Sean Marks said during training camp. “It’s been intermittent for the last couple years with him. … He has a long, long road ahead of him.”
The road saw LeVert on crutches in May, not get on a treadmill until July or practice fully for the first time until Nov. 21. He’s finally at the end of that road.
“All the work I put in this summer, all the extra conditioning, it really paid off,” LeVert said upon his return to practice. “Hopefully it’ll pay off going forward.”
The Nets hope so. With Boston holding the rights to swap first-round picks in 2017, and no first-rounder at all in 2018, LeVert is a huge block in Brooklyn’s rebuild.
“I saw him a couple of times at Michigan. He was terrific,” veteran NBA scout Scott McGuire told The Post. “Again, he’s got some things he’s got to add to his game.
“[Coach] Kenny [Atkinson] and the staff are great there. He might be missing a little instincts and feel, but he’s a streak shooter and he played hard in college. Kenny will fine-tune all the good stuff and take away the bad stuff.”
That’s why — despite most mock drafts having him in the second round, because of his foot woes and playing just 33 of 68 games with the Wolverines — the Nets were all too happy to pounce on a player they had slotted No. 11 on their internal draft board.
His 6-foot-7 height and 6-foot-10 wingspan should help the Nets defense. A 16.5 point scorer who averaged 4.9 assists and shot 44.6 percent from deep last season at Michigan, he’ll also help on offense. He excelled as an off-guard, but played small forward and ran the point as well for the Wolverines.
“LeVert, we’re going to see. I think he’s got a very good little bit beyond the mid-range, out to 18 feet out, nice pull-up,’’ an Eastern Conference scout told The Post. “He probably has to work on his handle, like most guys do coming out of college. But he can play.”