Raptors forward DeAndre’ Bembry has worked his way back into Nick Nurse’s good book

Over the course of his first four years in the NBA, DeAndre’ Bembry has learned the virtue of patience and the value of hard work.

Those traits are coming in handy now for the Raptors backup.

Bembry, whose usage by the Raptors has been as up and down as the team’s season so far, seems to have worked himself back to the front of coach Nick Nurse’s mind of late, primarily because he has put in the work and bided his time.

“That pretty much just keeps me going,” the six-foot-five native of Charlotte said, “going against some of the other guys that’s not playing, we would play one-on-ones, two-on-twos, even fives against each other.

“Just the normal things that we would do on a daily basis, that’ll help me, I love the game that I play, so that pretty much keeps me going every day.”

Bembry didn’t play a minute in nine of Toronto’s first 20 games and didn’t play more than six minutes in eight others.

But as the team continues to search for a consistent, workable rotation, and as Nurse tries every night to find some group that works, Bembry is back in the fold.

He played 18 minutes against Sacramento on Friday, a season-high 22 against Orlando on Sunday, and another 19 against the Magic Tuesday primarily because of his versatility and in large part because others weren’t getting the job done.

“DeAndre’ has been a nice surprise here lately,” Nurse said. “It’s kind of what he showed in the pre-season, he’s just kind of a utility guy, can handle (the ball) a bit, can back cut you a bit, can guard a couple positions.”

In other words, Bembry is like a handful of other Raptors backups: Not great at any one thing but capable of doing a few things well enough to get them over the hump in a specific game.

“it’s just probably night to night what we need and who’s playing well,” Nurse said of an end-of-rotation group that includes Bembry, Terence Davis, Chris Boucher and, to some extent Stanley Johnson and Yuta Watanable, who have separated themselves a bit from the group with consistent play.

“But they’re starting to develop a role of who they are and what we can expect from them to just stay within themselves so we know what they’re going to be each night.”

Bembry’s ability to guard a couple of positions on defence and to bring the ball up the court on offence — freeing teammates like Fred VanVleet or Kyle Lowry to play off screens and off the ball — is the kind of versatility Nurse and his staff appreciate.

And Bembry knows that his energy is going to be a huge factor in how much he plays.

“I know Nick loves guys that can run around in scramble and do their things defensively, but even offensively, if you’re able to do that. I think I’m gaining some trust through the coaches now,” he said. “I’ve been gaining trust throughout the players, I knew a bunch of the players before I got here. It was definitely good to go out there (Sunday) and just get some more confidence from the coaches.”

The search is never-ending for Nurse, though, and roles change nightly. The coach may approach each game with a plan on who might play how much and in what groups and then the game happens and plans go out the window.

Foul trouble, a lack of energy, a couple of quick turnovers or blown defensive assignments and he’s off in search of something else that might work, especially with regulars like OG Anunoby and Norm Powell out with injuries. Powell returned Tuesday night.

“I certainly don’t want to play without Norm or OG, but I don’t really have a choice over there now who to put in so those guys go in and they’re going to get their rotation (minutes) and then it’s kind of see how they do and let it roll from there,” Nurse said.

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It’s just the reality for Bembry and others.

“We’re just going to go out there and try to play the right basketball and I think that’s what we’ve done so far,” he said. “We’re confident. We’re just looking for moments to get out there, and I think the past few games, we’ve got out there and tried to make the right plays.

“I would definitely say, yeah, we would love to be in that position, we would love to get out there and play with some of the other guys that are normally in these positions.”