Atlanta Hawks: What to Expect from DeAndre’ Bembry After Breakout Year

A quick look at recent news surrounding DeAndre’ Bembry of the Atlanta Hawks, and what that news might mean for next season.

In his third season as a member of the Atlanta Hawks, DeAndre’ Bembry easily had his best season in 2018-19. It helped that Bembry stayed healthy all year, playing in all 82 games for the first time in his career.

Because of his improved health, Bembry’s athleticism really popped on a night-to-night basis for Atlanta, leading to a variety of dunking highlights and defensive stops from the 25-year-old – cementing his place as the Hawks’ best perimeter defender on a defense-starved unit last year.

Now, after the ouster of Kent Bazemore, Bembry is the longest-tenured member of the Atlanta Hawks with three years of experience, with the second-longest being third-year player John Collins (a shocking revelation).

With that in mind, Bembry has doubled down on his efforts to be a forceful substitute off the bench for Hawks Head Coach Lloyd Pierce, who recently lauded Bembry’s work ethic this offseason via comments to Kevin Chouinard of NBA.com:

“DeAndre’ Bembry has spent more time in the practice facility than any other player since the end of last season,” Pierce told Chouinard.

Last year, Bembry put up career-highs in every major category, and generally took up the mantle of “super sub,” which was a role that had previously been held by Kent Bazemore to start his Hawks career.

Where Bembry truly shone was on defense, and his 2.5 percent steal rate ranked 11th in the NBA last season. He produced 105 steals and 41 blocks as well, so not only was his per-possession rank good for his position for both, but he was also pickpocketing the ball from players at a high volume as well.

Defense is all about effort, which Bembry certainly does not lack, but perhaps where Bembry truly needs to spend time is on offense, where his shooting and finishing around the rim could still be improved. We shall what next year brings for Bembry next year.