Cavs: Dylan Windler’s debut is a key thing to watch in preseason

Dylan Windler should be set to get burn in Cleveland Cavaliers preseason action.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have not been in game action for quite a while at this point. Cleveland’s last game action was on March 10, in what was a close loss to the Chicago Bulls.

Shortly thereafter, the NBA’s past season went into its novel coronavirus-induced hiatus, and the 2019-20 campaign would ultimately end for Cleveland, as they weren’t an Orlando area bubble squad.

Finally, though, for the Wine and Gold, the next season is drawing closer. For the NBA, the 2020-21 season is set to begin on Dec. 22 and teams will be playing 72 games this next regular season. Albeit prior to that, it’ll be beneficial for young pieces, in particular, to get some run in preseason action for the Cavs.

Players such as Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Kevin Porter Jr. and 2020 draft pick Isaac Okoro definitely come to mind for Cleveland in that regard for preseason. But one thing to watch for in preseason play for the Cavaliers is the debut of Dylan Windler, realistically, from my perspective.

Windler’s debut is a key thing to watch in preseason action for the Cavs.

Windler didn’t appear at all last season for the Cavaliers, in what was set to be his first, aside from playing in a few games with Cleveland’s G League affiliate, the Canton Charge. Windler was dealing with complications involving a stress reaction in his lower left leg, in what was eventually deemed to be a stress fracture, of which he had surgically repaired.

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It was really encouraging, though, that Windler participated in Cleveland’s voluntary in-market bubble team workouts in late September, and he seemingly made a splash in those in the 5-on-5 runs.

So considering that, he’d appear to be ready to go for Cleveland’s upcoming preseason games, albeit we’ll see as far as if he’ll play in each one.

Per a Cavs press release, Cleveland will be playing at home versus the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 12 and 14 at 7 and 6 PM EST, and will finish out their preseason action with two games at the New York Knicks on Dec. 16 and 18, both at 7:30 EST. The TV/radio broadcast info will be announced later, per the Cavs.

The first half of Cleveland’s 2020-21 regular season schedule will be known soon, and the second half will be released, per that Cavs release, “during the latter part of the First Half portion of the schedule.”

Clearly, this next season will have some slight differences, with the league trying to limit travel when possible, in relation to trying to limit the amount of times each team needs to travel to a different city, due to COVID-19 concerns.

Moreover, the Cavs will be playing the max of four preseason games (the minimum is two), which for again, pieces such as Garland, KPJ and Windler, is a sound move.

I’ll be looking forward to seeing how Windler does for the Cavaliers, in particular, as he again is yet to make his debut for the Cavs. Windler wasn’t a participant in preseason last year, but hopefully, we’ll see some flashes from him as a shooter, for one.

Dylan hit 40.6 percent of his three-point attempts in a four-year collegiate career at Belmont, and he has the makings of a knockdown catch-and-shoot threat, via spot-ups and off of movement, most notably.

And Windler, a polished pull-up shooter, placed in the 85th percentile on pull-up shot attempts in the halfcourt as a senior at Belmont in 2018-19, per Synergy Sports, too.

Cleveland should benefit from Windler’s cutting/finishing abilities as well next season, in his minutes-share, feasibly as a key bench contributor. Let’s not discount how Windler should aid Cleveland in the secondary playmaking realm, too.

Anyway, for Windler, who I’m sure can’t wait to get some burn with the Cavs in game action, it’ll be meaningful for him to get some floor run with his teammates on the Wine and Gold by finally making his debut this preseason.

And as a Cavs fan, I’m so excited to see what Windler can do, as his debut is a key thing to watch in upcoming preseason action leading up to the 2020-21 campaign.

His range, especially, could very well jump out when he’s out there; we’ll see in regards to the minutes-share/number of opportunities he has, though.