Knockdown shooter Dylan Windler’s presence will make the Cleveland Cavaliers more dangerous in transition.
Heading into the 2020-21 season, us Cleveland Cavaliers fans are hoping that Dylan Windler is able to make an impact. Due to complications regarding a stress reaction in his left leg, Windler was not able to play at all in 2019-20, which was set to be his rookie year.
That was I’m sure so tough on Windler, and while he reportedly could’ve maybe played had the Cavs had a handful of games left, had that been the case in Orlando, I wouldn’t have had any real expectations. Just the NBA’s top 22 teams are set to be in action via centralized season resumption, though, and the Cavs are done this season.
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Looking at next season/moving forward, however, I’m really excited to see how Windler does. He again did not appear at all last year, but his shooting ability could help the Cavaliers, even pretty early on it would seem.
The 6-foot-6 Windler hit 40.6 percent of his three-point attempts in a four-year career at Belmont, per Sports Reference. Along with that, as a senior, he had 21.3 points per game, and he hit 42.9 percent of his 7.1 three-point attempts per outing.
I’d imagine if Windler can gets his legs under him next year, he could quickly establish himself as one of Cleveland’s best pure shooters, and that includes off of movement, seemingly via relocation some, too.
Windler is also a player that can create for himself off-the-bounce, too, though, and is a polished pull-up shooter, and is a very good athlete and ambidextrous finisher near the rim as a cutter.
Albeit it’s not just about the settled offense where I believe Windler can have a significant impact.
Going forward, Windler’s presence will make the Cleveland Cavaliers more dangerous in transition.
In coming years, with Windler being a good defensive rebounder and having a nice handle coupled with that, he should prove to be a more than capable grab-and-go threat.
I understand it was absolutely not the same competition, but Windler did average 10.8 rebounds per game as a senior, and he averaged 7.8 boards per outing in his time as a Bruin.
Moreover, with him being a sound ball-mover and having good secondary playmaking instincts, he should make Cleveland more dangerous in transition/secondary transition upon bringing the ball up at times.
He has the vision/feel to feasibly hit Larry Nance Jr. perhaps on early mismatch transition post-ups and/or Kevin Porter Jr./Collin Sexton as cutters/in-rhythm shooters.
Most notably, though, with Windler being a solid pick-and-roll ball-handling option, in some instances in secondary transition, he could quickly get into a mismatch situation in the PnR against a true big, and get a favorable opportunity.
In-rhythm pull-ups/hesitations leading to floaters come to mind there, and if defenses collapse, Windler could initiate a ball-swing which could lead to corner/above-the-break triples from Sexton and/or KPJ, or eventually lead to a trailing Kevin Love triple.
On the other end of the spectrum, Windler should be a dangerous threat as a trailing shooter in his own right, reminiscent of Love. With Windler’s ability to hit looks coming off screens, and with his deep range, he’s a player that could add a key wrinkle to Cleveland’s secondary transition attack by going right into a perimeter look.
That should also mesh really well with Porter, who is a willing passer who should be more than capable of hitting a trailing Windler, along with Darius Garland, in some instances when they choose to reset/reverse the ball.
Plus, as he gets more time alongside other Cleveland Cavaliers and if opponents begin to ball-deny Windler in transition situations if he runs to the corner, that will open up more driving lanes for KPJ. The same goes for Sexton, who was Cleveland’s leading scorer with 20.8 points per game in 2019-20, and who led the Cavs in transition scoring as well with 3.2 fastbreak points per outing, per NBA.com.
Looking onward, with Windler’s all-around shooting ability, pull-up polish, sound ball movement instincts and with him being a grab-and-go threat, he’ll make the Cavs more dangerous when he’s on the floor in transition.
Let’s just hope the young wing can stay mostly healthy going forward. He could have noteworthy gravity as a shooter in coming years if he gets the opportunities, and also in transition.