Dylan Windler was a highly productive rebounder in college, and the Cleveland Cavaliers hope that carries over.
First things first in relation to what Dylan Windler could bring for the Cleveland Cavaliers, he could end up being a knockdown shooter. Windler hit 40.6 percent of his 534 three-point attempts in a four-year collegiate career at Vanderbilt, and in the near future for the Cavs, I believe Windler should help Cleveland via spot-ups and from shooting off of movement.
Windler is a polished pull-up shooter and could be a terrific cutter for the Wine and Gold, too. Of course, Windler has not appeared with the Cavaliers yet, as he was not able to play in 2019-20 due to complications involving a stress reaction in his left leg.
Windler could’ve reportedly made his Cavs debut if Cleveland had a handful of more games in 2019-20 by being invited to Orlando, but the Cavs were not one of the top 22 teams that fit that criteria.
In any case, while non-Orlando teams it does not appear will be having four Summer League-type games via second bubble in Chicago in September, which was being discussed previously, per a report from ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan, maybe Windler will be involved with Cleveland anyway.
Non-Orlando teams such as the Cavs could potentially have group workouts first in their own respective cities next month, and then could possibly have some workouts/team scrimmages against other squads in that realm in two non-Orlando cities, per a report from Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Bonnell did note, though, how that proposal has not been agreed to by either the NBA or the NBPA yet, but that from that time of the report last week, that there could be a decision what is now this week.
So maybe Windler could participate in scrimmages with the Cavs in that case, given that he is reportedly progressing along in his rehab? We’ll see, but given the novel coronavirus pandemic, it’s uncertain whether or not the possibility will be there.
Anyway, while it is clear that Windler could very well help the Cavs from a shooting standpoint next season, and could help from a secondary playmaking standpoint, his rebounding shouldn’t be glossed over.
Windler averaged 7.8 rebounds per game in his career at Belmont, which also included him putting 10.8 boards per contest as a senior. Windler could definitely be a quality grab-and-go piece for the Wine and Gold in coming years after defensive rebounds, but he could aid the Cavs in relation to the offensive rebounding element, too.
Here, we’ll hit on two ways Windler could help the Cleveland Cavaliers, in regards to the offensive rebounding element.
The first has to do with the more straight forward way.
#1: Windler could help keep possessions alive for the Cleveland Cavaliers
I’m not suggesting that we’ll be seeing Windler racking up a ton of offensive rebounds in his minutes-share for the Cavaliers, but him having 1.6 offensive boards per game in his Belmont career was fairly notable for mostly a perimeter player. Windler had 1.9 per outing as a senior as well, and his offensive rebounding rate of 6.9 percent was fairly impressive.
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Next season, if Windler can be able to be mostly healthy, he could help keep possessions alive for the Cavs.
In a recent interview with Cavs.com, as part of Windler being the featured Cavaliers player across their social media channels this week, Windler hit on how “anticipation and reading the ball off the shooter’s hand” and then positioning has aided him in his rebounding efforts.
That’s seemingly on both ends of the floor, and while I wouldn’t expect Windler to be racking up offensive rebounding totals such as the likes of Andre Drummond, who is arguably the best offensive rebounder in the league, or Larry Nance Jr., for instance, Windler could help keep plays alive.
Windler’s timing on both ends of the glass led to him having a high rebounding clip in college, and though the outright totals weren’t huge for Windler in that way, an offensive rebounding rate of 6.9 percent for a natural wing shouldn’t be discounted.
I’d imagine that the 6-foot-6 Windler, who does have very good anticipation/positioning feel on both ends of the glass, as he seemingly touched on with Cavs.com, could aid in keeping possessions alive for the Cleveland Cavaliers next season and beyond.
That sort of thing couldn’t hurt the Cavs, either, and with offensive rebounding extraordinaire, but expiring, Tristan Thompson seemingly having a high possibility of signing elsewhere this upcoming offseason. Albeit that’s hopefully if Windler doesn’t become out of position in terms of defensive transition, but even getting his share of tip-outs in that way could aid in that way.
The second way Windler could aid the Cavaliers regarding the offensive rebounding department has to do without the ball, mostly.
#2: Windler could be a lethal shooter/cutter for the Cleveland Cavaliers following offensive rebounds
Windler again could be a potential sharpshooter for the Cavaliers, if/when he can be mostly healthy, which I think we’ll likely see next season. Windler again hit just nearly 41.0 percent of his three-point attempts in his four-year career at Belmont, and with Windler’s quick release and pure stroke, I believe he could be a lethal shooting/cutting target for Cleveland following offensive rebounds.
Often in those types of situations, defenses can tend to be scrambling, and that’s when I believe we could very well see Drummond, Nance and/or feasibly Kevin Love, to some extent, find Windler for perimeter shots.
Windler could feast in those types of scenarios when he’s on the floor for stretches. Along with that, to some degree, Alfonzo McKinnie, who though he’ll be on a non-guaranteed deal in 2020-21/going forward, could stick around given his defensive capability, and McKinnie is quite the offensive rebounder in his own right.
McKinnie could realistically be on the floor a fair amount next season with Windler, and the former has averaged a robust 2.6 offensive rebounds per-36 in his career, so he could at least initiate ball-swings after securing them, if those are there, leading to good looks for Windler.
Windler, after he gets his legs under him, if you will, I’d think should be a quality off movement shooter for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and with Windler’s cutting timing and ambidextrous finishing touch, he could be a great cutting target for offensive rebounders for Cleveland at times throughout games, too.
That latter element would only make him harder to defend after offensive rebounds as well, as that could result in defenders flying out to contest Windler, and he could time up cuts for easy buckets from there in those scenarios as a counter.
Keep an eye out for Windler in regards to the offensive rebounding element for the Cavs.