Following a pretty quiet debut, DeAndre’ Bembry got some extended run for the Milwaukee Bucks and showed off some of what he can do if he gets the opportunity.
Against his former team, Bembry played 10 and a half minutes, didn’t take a single shot, dished out one assist, and picked up four fouls. I had relatively high expectations for Bembry, so seeing that initial performance was a bit disappointing. He got to play some more against the Charlotte Hornets and we saw more of what he could do.
DeAndre’ Bembry could have a big impact down the stretch for the Milwaukee Bucks
We got to see a little bit of everything from Bembry against the Hornets. He played nearly 20 minutes and posted six points, three rebounds, two assists, and a steal. A change from his debut? He only had one foul in 20 minutes as opposed to his four in 10 minutes.
When the Bucks added Bembry, I thought his biggest addition on offense would be sitting in the dunker spot or making well-timed cutes and taking dump-off passes from their stars while filling in the gaps with some shooting and playmaking.
Two of his three made baskets (he went 3-of-4) were in that exact role. On his first made bucket as a Buck, he got out in transition, went right to the dunker spot, and took the pass from Giannis Antetokounmpo for the easy layup.
For his third bucket of the night, he benefitted from good penetration from Jrue Holiday. LaMelo Ball was on him, he loses track of Bembry who cuts to the basket and takes the pass from Holiday for another easy basket.
Bembry’s other basket was a nice drive off of an inbounds, which was nice to see him create a bit for himself, but that won’t be the norm. Still, it was good to see a bit of scoring versatility and he hasn’t taken a 3-pointer yet!
Another part of his game I wanted to see him expand with the Bucks was his passing.
Prior to being with the Brooklyn Nets, he showed some solid passing chops and posted some solid assist rates with previous teams. He didn’t get as much of a chance with the Nets, posting a career-low 8.4 percent assist rate, per Cleaning the Glass (subscription required).
He only had a couple of assists tonight, but one of them stuck out to me. His first assist of the night, he carried the ball up on a fastbreak opportunity, got P.J. Washington on his hip, and then found Khris Middleton as the trailer for an open 3-point attempt.
He did have Bobby Portis or Wesley Matthews open in the corners for 3s, but he also had the feel to know that Middleton was coming behind him for a better look.
Now, Bembry did play nearly 20 minutes but a lot of it came when the game was out of hand. He got seven and a half through the first three quarters (and that’s when he got all of his points!), but his minutes in the fourth quarter were still against the Hornets’ better players as, for whatever reason, James Borrego didn’t take his guys out despite being down a bunch of points and on the second night of a back-to-back.
I’d like to see him get more run like this going forward. Although he hasn’t been the best shooter throughout his career, he can still do enough things that he could push Matthews out of a rotation spot if Matthews’ shooting struggles continue.
Bembry looked much more comfortable with his teammates and on defense in this one. He has the potential to be an impactful buyout addition for the Bucks as long as he can keep up his production on offense (and not foul the bejesus out of opponents, but that’s likely an outlier).
He doesn’t fix their bench scoring issue, but he brings more than enough to the table that he can make an impact with his defensive versatility to play a small role in the playoffs.