Cavs: How Dylan Windler, Jordan Bell can help one another

Dylan Windler and Jordan Bell could see time together for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It’s uncertain if we’ll see Jordan Bell make the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2020-21 season, as his deal for next season is non-guaranteed. There could be a good possibility of that, it’d seem, though, as Cleveland could feasibly draft a wing and/or to-be unrestricted free agent Tristan Thompson could potentially sign elsewhere.

Meanwhile, even given recent reports about him being undecided, it still seems hard to foresee Andre Drummond not eventually pick up his $28.7 million player option. I’d imagine he’ll be back with the Cavs, at least for a good chunk of next season, but swinging back, Bell could appear to have a pretty solid chance of sticking around.

In that sense, as a rotational 5 option, I’d think Bell’s primary role offensively would be as a roller/screener. He showed some capability to hit mid-range looks in his first two seasons with the Golden State Warriors, but with the Cavs, I wouldn’t necessarily expect that much.

Bell, who has a career average of 3.8 points per game, wouldn’t project as a key scoring threat in his minutes-share. That’s okay, though, as he is an effective screener on and off-ball, and that could help players such as Collin Sexton, Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr.

In addition, however, I could very well foresee Bell and Dylan Windler meshing well in minutes on the floor together for the Cavs, in particular.

Here’s how Windler and Bell can help one another, if Bell sticks with the Cavs.

The key rationale here is the off-ball aspect. If Windler can stay mostly healthy next season, which I believe he can and will, with how adept he is an off-ball player/all-around shooter, and with Bell with being a timely screener, that could lead to great off-screen/flare looks.

And Windler, who hit 40.6 percent of 534 career three-point attempts at Belmont over a four-year collegiate career, can knock those down after deliveries from Kevin Porter Jr., Dante Exum, Darius Garland and/or Larry Nance Jr.

Plus, as the season progresses, I could see Dylan Windler getting some more pick-and-roll ball handling work throughout contests, and Bell could help him then in minutes together to aid Windler in the pull-up/floater game. And in that realm, Windler placed in the 85th percentile, per Synergy Sports, in halfcourt pull-ups in 2018-19, so that could provide a spark for Cleveland.

So how about the other side of this, then?

To me, with Windler being a willing and able passer and with Bell being an effective roller/lob threat and at least active cutter in the paint as an outlet, Windler could get him some pocket passes leading to dunks/high percentage looks.

There could be passes over-the-top at times if/when Bell gets interior seals/occasionally cross-matched, too, similarly for a Windler dynamic with Larry Nance Jr. to an extent.

Somewhat in that same realm, in secondary transition situations, with Windler being a productive rebounder and firmly one of Cleveland’s grab-and-go threats next season, he could feed Bell at times with momentum cutting toward the basket. And that’s even more so due to Bell, while he is undersized at the 5 at 6-foot-8 and 216 pounds, running really well in the open floor.

Also keep in mind, through three seasons, most of which the third was with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2019-20, Bell has converted on a robust 68.7 percent of his career shot attempts in the restricted area.

Lastly, on the defensive end, Windler is a savvy player who stunts on to drivers/bigs well as a helper, and got his share of deflections at Belmont, so he could aid Bell some in that way.

And most notably, Bell, even while somewhat undersized when at the 5, which I’d expect him to play mostly with the Cleveland Cavaliers, is a highly effective team defender and could bring a rotational rim protecting presence.

He had 1.5 blocks per-36 minutes with Minnesota last season, and could definitely aid Windler and others in his minutes-share, if he sticks around with the Cavs, in that regard.

But overall, Windler and Bell could mesh well in minutes together next season/looking onward, especially in the off-ball sense.