East Rutherford, N.J.—It was out of his hands.

Season complete, Nets guard Devin Harris could do no more to sway voters toward inking his name in the top row of their ballots for the 2008-09 Most Improved Player Award.

Playing in 69 games, Harris finished the season with career-high averages of 21.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.65 steals in a career-high 36.1 minutes per game. He scored 30-plus points 12 times, thrice topping 40, after not having done so once in the previous four seasons. For the first time, he earned All-Star recognition, selected by the Eastern Conference coaches to spend a weekend in Phoenix with the league’s best players.

“I think (the race is) pretty close, but I’m interested to see how it will turn out,” Harris said in April. “I think Danny Granger’s had an incredible year.”

He went on to mention Kevin Durant and Paul Millsap, but he did this knowing Granger was his closest competitor. The fourth-year forward was the league's fifth leading scorer (a career-high 25.8 PPG), averaged 5.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists and became the first player in NBA history to raise his scoring average by at least five points in three consecutive seasons.

The voting was released last Tuesday, and Granger outpointed Harris 364-339, earning 48 first-place votes to Harris’ 43. There would be no trophy added to Harris’ display. But that doesn’t mean the 26-year-old point guard will be dejected into complacency. He knows the next step:

“Consistency,” Harris explains. “That’s got to be the main thing: Is it going to be a one-time deal or can you level off and make it back every year?

Harris has teammates who believe he can, namely his No. 1 pick-and-roll partner, center Brook Lopez.

“Devin’s shown he’s an All-Star caliber player, a real go-to player for this team,” says Lopez. “I think he’ll be a continuous All-Star pretty much for the rest of his career.”

Those sentiments are borne of watching a healthy Harris engage his internal warp drives, thrusting by seemingly sludge-footed defenders for drives to the basket (8.8 free-throws attempted per game) or setting up the balance-destroying stepback dribble he regularly combos into a pullup jumper. Enabled by the Nets' “open,” dribble-drive offense early in the year and pick-and-roll action late, Harris scored at levels few had envisioned.

The 21.3 PPG more than doubled his career average (10.0 PPG entering ’08-09), and ultimately led the Nets, a surprise considering they play some guy named Vince Carter (career PPG: 23.5) alongside Harris in the backcourt. And yet Harris still found time to set up his teammates at a career-best 6.9-assist clip. His passing improved – there’s that word again – as the season progressed, most evident during a nine-game stretch at the beginning of March that included six double-digit assist totals.

“I think Devin has exceeded all expectations,” says Nets guard Keyon Dooling. “Not only mine, but around the league. What he’s been able to do this season has been pretty amazing.”

As Harris looks to duplicate the success of his breakout season, he’ll spend much of the summer working out in Chicago at Tim Grover’s Attack Athletics, alongside teammate Bobby Simmons. While Harris will likely focus on strengthening his body, to better absorb the pounding that caused nagging injuries throughout the year, shooting will also be prioritized. Harris’ field-goal percentage dropped to .438 (from .468 in 2007-08), and his three-point shooting also dipped (to .291 from .335), even as his attempts increased.

But that will all come after a week-long, Adidas-organized trip to China with Lopez. The duo left Sunday, though Harris admitted beforehand that he needed a little convincing.

“Not to say it was a tough sell, but the flight is always tough -- 20 hours on a plane kind of makes me nervous,” Harris said. “But I’m trying to culture myself. I’ve never been to Asia before, so I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited to see what’s out there.”

Harris joked that he’s just checking continents off the list after visiting Europe for the first time during the preseason as part of NBA Europe Live 2008. He suggested that next up might be Australia/Oceania, where college backcourt buddy Kirk Penney is playing ball in his native New Zealand.

Future vacations aside, the only traveling Harris wants to do is head to the playoffs after missing the postseason for a second consecutive year.

“I think we’re definitely moving in the right direction, and it’s our job to keep the train moving that way,” Harris says. “We have a lot of young players, and we expect big things from them this summer as far as getting better and coming to play next year.”

Sounds like he’s looking for … improvement. They would do well to heed his example.

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