Is DeAndre Bembry A Potential Fan Favorite For The Hawks?

Bembry might be mistaken as an ABA time traveler. He’ll become the first player in league history to wear the no. 95, but he chose the number for a more personal reason than that: ’95 is the year his brother Adrian Potts was born. Potts was killed less than two weeks before the NBA draft, and wearing 95 is Bembry’s way of honoring him. Bembry can ball, too. As a 6-foot-6 playmaker, he takes advantage of mismatches on offense and plays versatile defense much like Evan Turner or Andre Iguodala.

Bembry was a star at St. Joseph’s because of his advanced feel for the game. He made great progress as a playmaker during his junior year. He carried that over to summer league, showing patience when probing pick-and-rolls, and accuracy hitting the bullseye on his passes. He still needs to learn how to properly use his body to shimmy into crevices while splitting screens, but he tightened his handle each year of his collegiate career, so a history of progress is there.

The Hawks traded Jeff Teague, promoted Dennis Schröder to starter, and added Jarrett Jack to run their bench. However, in January, Jack tore his ACL, an injury that usually prevents players from returning to their normal level of play for at least 1–2 years. Jack will turn 33 this season, and in the past two years his “normal” wasn’t that hot, to put it lightly. In two years with the Nets, Jack had a 45.4 eFG% and a 28.2 3-point percentage. His 2.1 assist–turnover ratio was solid considering the situation. If he’s any worse than he was in Brooklyn, then it might be only a matter of time before Mike Budenholzer hands the keys to Bembry to run the show off the bench.