Next season, the Cleveland Cavaliers could have an added wrinkle to their offense by occasionally utilizing Cedi Osman and Dylan Windler as rollers.
The 2019-20 season for the Cleveland Cavaliers appears to be likely in the books. It was not one to write home about, that’s for sure.
Going into the NBA’s novel coronavirus-induced hiatus, which began on March 11, Cleveland had a 19-46 record, which is currently the second-worst in the league.
It seems again likely that though the league is reportedly likely to have a season resumption at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney, a recent report on Monday from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on ESPN’s Get Up seems to suggest non-playoff teams like the Cavs could very well be done with this season.
Windhorst said there’s a “really good chance” that the league could go to right to a 16-team postseason format, as h/t Forbes‘ Chris Grenham, though this format would “have to pass an owner vote.”
Brian Windhorst just said on @GetUpESPN that there’s a “really good chance” the NBA elects to go with a 16-team playoff and no regular season.
— Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) May 25, 2020
Added that it leaves open the possibility for seeding the teams 1-16, which would have to pass an owner vote.
Factoring in this update, we’ll look focus more on next season when it comes to the Cavaliers’ here, and an added wrinkle for Cleveland’s offense particularly intrigues me.
The Cleveland Cavaliers utilizing Cedi Osman and Dylan Windler as rollers at times throughout games would be a smart move next season.
Though these pieces will not have the ball in their hands nearly as often as others such as Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Kevin Love or Kevin Porter Jr., it’d be a good wrinkle by Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff to utilize Cedi Osman and Dylan Windler as occasional rollers.
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While Osman has been fairly underwhelming in 2019-20 as Cleveland’s starting 3 and has looked at times out of rhythm, he has still proven to be a productive cutter and a key bright spot for him has been him hitting 38.3 percent of his three-point attempts, per NBA.com.
Osman has again proven to be a solid ball-mover as well with a decent 2.4 assists per outing, and as the season has progressed, we’ve seen more point-forward-like work from Cedi of which he showed in 2018-19 in a bigger on-ball creation role.
It is clear, though, that Osman will likely be in a tertiary role from here on out, however, and with him not being a long-term answer as Cleveland’s starting 3, that’s for the best.
Even so, Osman’s feel as a passer and cutter is something the Cavaliers have plenty of use for, but next season, I’d again like to see Osman used as an occasional roller/screener in instances with the likes of Garland, Sexton and/or KPJ.
Osman moves without the ball well in coming around screens to shoot/drive, and I’d like to see him utilized as a pick-and-pop player more, and a heady player in Windler should be as well. Plus, both make sound decisions as secondary playmakers too that would be able to initiate ball-swings/ball reversals as a counter to hard closeouts.
Windler has not played at all for Cleveland yet due to complications involving a stress reaction in his left leg, no, but this is a way even early on next season, in terms of the rolling/pick-and-pop sense, that I believe he’ll be able to be used off the bench.
Though it was absolutely not NBA competition, Windler displayed the ability to shoot off of movement in his career at Belmont, and he often sank three-point looks, which he hit at a 40.6 percent clip in four seasons, per Sports Reference, off of relocation.
That paired nicely with how he showed occasional rolling ability to pair with pick-and-roll creation, and the 6-foot-6 Windler is a polished ambidextrous finisher near the rim and is a factor above the rim. Coupled with that, he has the requisite feel to find bigs for dump-offs, and similarly to Osman and a really good passing forward in Larry Nance Jr., Windler as a roller at times should be able to find spray-outs to shooters if defenses collapse.
Moreover, while I’m not saying the Cleveland Cavaliers would likely use them as rollers a ton, with the point forward type skill set of Osman and Windler and both having pull-up capability, the Cavs using both occasionally as rollers/pick-and-pop players could pay dividends.
That’d also enable the Cavaliers to involve the likes of Sexton, Love and/or KPJ as cutters along the baseline more, and both Osman and Windler could find them after hard closeouts, too. Not getting it twisted here, though, expect the Cavs to use Osman and Windler as floor spacers first and foremost next season.
Albeit as rollers throughout games, their passing/pull-up feel could lead to easier opportunities for others and also get Garland and others in some relocation situations, and nice spot-up/off-screen looks for easy offense.
Both could open up some lobs for the likes of Nance and KPJ over the top as well, and perhaps at times, we could even see some Windler-Osman PnR.