Brooklyn Nets newcomer DeAndre’ Bembry has been impressing his teammates, including superstar Kevin Durant. The 27-year shooting guard received praise from KD for his performance in a loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Bembry, who started for Brooklyn, had 18 points and 9 rebounds in 35 minutes of play and was the team’s second top scorer along with LaMarcus Aldridge. According to Durant, he did what the Nets needed.

Via Brian Lewis of New York Post:

“He played incredible [against Phoenix] — playing defense on the ball, cutting to the rim, making himself available, rebounding,” Kevin Durant said. “We’re going to need that from him. He was a spark for us and he was one of the bright spots out there. So hopefully he can continue to build on this and keep getting better.”

This season, Bembry is averaging 5.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 19.4 minutes per game. He has played 19 games so far, starting 4 of them.