James Harden and Russell Westbrook. LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard. Isaiah Thomas and John Wall. They’ve all put together seasons that will keep their names in any legitimate MVP conversation as this NBA regular season winds down.

Clearly some cases will be stronger than others.

But inclusion, often times, is just as significant for some.

In the case of Toronto Raptors All-Star swingman DeMar DeRozan, this season serves as a case of what might have been.

DeRozan showed flashes early, scoring 30 or more points in 10 of his first 12 games of this season (including an opening night 40-point game and another 40-point outing three games later). And now he’s coming on again late in this season, piling up back-to-back 40-point games as the Raptors have won four straight, giving chase in a Kia MVP race that’s all but over.

DeRozan rejoins the top 10 of this week’s KIA Race to the MVP Ladder on the strength of his late work, which comes at the most crucial of times for the Raptors.