#4. DeAndre’ Bembry
While it might be surprising to see DeAndre’ Bembry ranked so highly on this list, the more surprising aspect of his inclusion is the fact that his fellow 2016 draftee Taurean Prince would likely not have been Top 5 on the team going into the 2019-20 season had he remained with the Atlanta Hawks.
Though Prince certainly had his moments across three seasons with the Hawks, Bembry outplayed him last season to the tune of some blanketing defense and striking fast-break dunks:
Beyond that, Bembry’s statistical profile conveys his vastly important defensive impact as well as all-around utility on both ends of the court.
Per BBall Index’s Luck-Adjusted On/Off Ratings, Bembry ranks ahead of players such as Mitchell Robinson, Ricky Rubio and Bam Adebayo with a +54.5 defensive net rating, which is actually tied with noted defensive stopper Victor Oladipo last year.
Also per BBall Index, Bembry’s defensive player impact plus/minus of 0.8 last season was second only to Dewayne Dedmon’s 1.1 – showcasing the wing’s importance to a rather porous Hawks defense last year.
Bembry is no one-trick-pony, however, as Inpredictable showcases his win probability added based on various statistics. Bembry is the only Atlanta Hawks player to rank Top 4 in rebound WPA (3.31), assist WPA (6.36), steal WPA (2.28) and block WPA (0.70).
With Kent Bazemore traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, Bembry will likely slide into the glue guy role that Baze so capably performed for the past few seasons.
Seeing as Bembry is younger and more athletic, expect good things from the veteran Atlanta Hawks wing in 2019-20.