Brooklyn Nets guard Caris LeVert is expected to play Saturday against the Toronto Raptors after missing 24 games following right thumb surgery.
The Nets have yet to confirm his return, but multiple reports said he’d be available to play.
“I feel good, my body feels good, so I can’t wait to get out there and help the team,” LeVert told reporters before the Nets’ 123-111 loss at the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.
LeVert, 25, last played on Nov. 10 in Phoenix.
In nine games (all starts) this season, LeVert has averaged 16.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 31.6 minutes per contest. The scoring and rebounding averages represent career highs for the fourth-year player, a 2016 first-round pick from Michigan.
LeVert, who missed 42 games last season with a foot injury, signed a three-year, $52.5 million extension with the Nets in August.
His return should provide the struggling Nets with a boost. They have lost four games in a row and are in seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Nets are playing without big man Kevin Durant, who is expected to miss the season as he recovers from a torn Achilles suffered last June in the NBA Finals. Point guard Kyrie Irving, who was supposed to lead the Nets in Durant’s absence, has not played since Nov. 14 because of a shoulder impingement.