Cavaliers: How Cedi Osman and Dylan Windler can help one another

With the NBA season approaching, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ young team is gearing up for their first season under new head coach John Beilein, and two rotational pieces that will likely be fixtures in Beilein’s rotation are Cedi Osman and Dylan Windler. While they are both natural wings, they can help each other a great deal in the coming years still on the floor together and in further developing skill sets.

Minimal expectations surround the youthful Cleveland Cavaliers‘ team in 2019-20, as they are in the midst of a full-blown rebuild. Added to the Cavaliers squad this offseason were three first-round draft picks, though, as we’ve often hit on here at KJG.

One of those selections was used to draft Dylan Windler, a sharpshooter from Belmont.

Windler connected on nearly 43.0% of his three-point attempts in his final two years in college (42.6 and 42.9%, per Sports Reference), and he also grabbed 9.3 rebounds per game his junior year and 10.8 rebounds per game his senior year.

On the Cavaliers, this will likely translate to Windler starting in a bench role and being able to fill multiple positions on the floor for head coach John Beilein. While Windler is only a rookie, he and Cedi Osman could work well with each other on the floor.

The two young wings, while complimenting each other on the floor, can also learn from each other. Windler is a knockdown shooter, something Osman is working on (34.8% on three-point shots last year, per NBA.com) but could benefit from practicing alongside Windler (highlights per Free Dawkins).

If Osman can become a more reliable long-range shooter, it would make him a more viable offensive threat from all levels on the floor.

While his 34.8% hit rate wasn’t bad in 2018-19, he did only shoot 33.7% on 3.5 catch-and-shoot triple attempts per game (a frequency of 32.1%, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data), which is an area he’ll need to improve on to really open up other areas of his game more consistently, but again, Windler’s influence could help Osman.

But another skill that Windler possesses that could rub off on Osman is his ability to rebound the basketball at such an impressive clip, and Windler can get a lot of these rebounds on the perimeter due to the increased number of long-range shots taken in the game today.

However, it still takes skill to be in the right position to grab those long rebounds, and Windler is 6-foot-7.5 (per Tankathon) with a 37.5″ maximum vertical at the NBA combine (h/t At The Hive’s Jonathan DeLong).

Osman, who spends a good portion of his time on the defensive end along the perimeter, can learn a thing or two from the rookie about grabbing those long rebounds and being in better position to help the bigs; his rebound per-36 minute clip of 5.3 (per Basketball Reference) was fine in 2018-19, but could improve.

Additionally, more rebounds could get Osman more transition opportunities; Osman has shown he can be more of a rebounding presence from time to time, though, such as against the Portland Trail Blazers last season (highlights again, per Free Dawkins).

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Windler also possesses the skill of playing well off the ball and can find cutting lanes to get easy shots around the rim. He can make a defense pay for closing out too aggressively on one of his three-point shots, too, but his cutting ability is critical for any wing player, especially in today’s game.

This duo of Osman (24) and Windler (22) works both ways, though, and Osman can help the rookie adjust to life in the NBA. Windler will be playing against far superior competition in the NBA, and the scouting report on him will be out there.

The key will be for the rookie Windler to be able to adjust and counter NBA defenses and can learn from Osman, who already has two years under his belt, and has shown growth as a scorer off-the-bounce and as a pick-and-roll ball-handler, as he can handle secondary playmaking duties and initiate ball-swings well from quality vision, and that could help Windler (who is a good passer himself but is still a rookie) be more comfortable handling it in spots as a secondary playmaker against NBA perimeter defense, too.

I would expect Windler to pick Osman’s brain quite often during the season. The duo is both young, but Osman has been around the NBA and even learned for a season under LeBron James.

Cedi was grateful to learn from an all-time great, and will surely pass that information along to the rookies in Windler, Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr., I would assume.

Cleveland still has quite a young roster, and could potentially trade away several expiring contract veterans, and in turn, could become even more youthful.

That is why the Osman-Windler connection can not only help those two players individually but benefit the team in the long run, though.

These two young wings look to be two of the vital building blocks for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and their ability to learn from one another will be crucial for the Wine and Gold this season.