Nets sharpshooter Joe Harris said he’ll make his return to the court Friday night at Barclays Center. After missing the past four games with a sore left foot, he’s been cleared to play against visiting Toronto.

“I’m excited. I wanted to try and play the first game, but just wasn’t quite where I was supposed to be,” Harris said. “Performance, myself, needed just a little bit more time. But I feel good right now and I’m excited to play.”

Harris admitted to some nerves heading into his first regular-season game since Nov. 14, 2021.

“Yeah, but I’m more excited than anything else,” Harris said. “I’m just grateful to get back on the court. I’ve watched a lot of basketball in the last 11 months. Just to get up and down and compete, that’s what I’m excited about.”

Getting Harris’ gravity and floor spacing will help the Nets’ struggling offense. Having their longest-tenured player back may even lift their spirits as well.

“Joe and his presence is someone who can just slide in there, not only with his ability to shoot the ball, but his length and aggressiveness on D,” Patty Mills said. “Obviously he’s going to open up the floor, give driving lane opportunities for our main guys.

“But just for him, seeing what he went through last year, and being close with him, it’s a feel-good thing just to have him back out there in a regular-season game again. I know he’s been through a lot. He’s handled like an absolute champ, so hopefully he can stay healthy and we can keep him out there.”

Harris had missed most of last season due to a left ankle injury that required two surgeries. He made his return in the preseason opener, scoring six points in 15 minutes on 2-of-7 shooting from 3.

But Harris had warned that while his ankle was 100%, he’d have to watch other related body parts. He proved prescient, with swelling and soreness in his foot sidelining him for the rest of the preseason and Wednesday’s regular-season opener.

Harris said there are no procedures or special treatments needed for his foot, just time to let it rest. He added it’s a normal situation considering the operations he had last season and the length of time he had been shelved.

“I mean, I’m coming off of reconstructive surgery – I had a bunch of spurs taken off my navicular,” said Harris, referring to one of seven bones comprising the tarsus of the ankle and foot. “It’s just our performance staff just been a little conservative.”

That’s understandable considering the year Harris has been through.

After suffering the initial ankle injury on Nov. 14 against Oklahoma City, Harris underwent arthroscopic surgery 15 days later – performed at the Hospital for Special Surgery by longtime Nets foot/ankle specialist Dr. Martin O’Malley – to remove a loose body.

The Nets estimated Harris would be back in 4-to-8 weeks, but that proved overly optimistic. With the noted gym rat Harris admitting at the time that he might have been a tad overzealous in his return, he ended up needing ligament reconstruction surgery in March, this time performed by Dr. Robert Anderson at Bellin Hospital in Green Bay, Wisc.

Following an offseason of rehab, and a minor hiccup, Harris is back. And he admits managing his body is going to be an ongoing process.

“Once the intensity starts to ramp up, it’s an adjustment coming from open gym to practice, practice to the preseason and then so on and so forth,” Harris said. “So your body just needs time to get acclimated. Obviously I dealt with foot soreness, but at some point I’m going to be dealing with back or knee or whatever it is and it’s just going to be one of those things to manage throughout the season.”