Cavs: Dylan Windler, Damyean Dotson will make others better

Dylan Windler and Damyean Dotson will improve the Cleveland Cavaliers’ shooting efforts.

I wouldn’t anticipate either to necessarily be high usage players in their minutes-share for the Cleveland Cavaliers this upcoming season, but Dylan Windler and Damyean Dotson will get their shots up.

Windler did not appear in the 2019-20 season for Cleveland due to complications involving a stress fracture in his lower left leg. Albeit he seemingly made quite an impression in the Cavs voluntary in-market team bubble workouts as a shooter, and he’s reportedly made things happen in training camp.

Windler is amid a battle for Cleveland’s starting 3 spot with Cedi Osman and Isaac Okoro for now, although I would frankly expect him to be mostly a bench contributor in 2020-21. Nonetheless, he’ll make an impact when he’s out there.

When it comes to Dotson, he was recently signed by Cleveland via team-friendly deal, and while we’ll have to see as far as his minutes-share, seemingly at the 2/3, he could prove to be a knockdown shooter when the opportunities arise.

Anyway, in regards to both Windler and Dotson, though, one thing is evident for when they are out there for the Cavs.

Windler and Dotson will make other Cavs players better.

Windler and Dotson again, project to be floor spacers for the Cavaliers when they’re given opportunities, and I’m giving him a pass for having shooting woes in his preseason game on Saturday, objectively.

Windler hit 40.6 percent of his three-point shot attempts in a four-year collegiate career at Belmont, and in 2018-19, he placed in the 94th percentile in catch-and-shoot situations in the halfcourt, per Synergy Sports; he’ll be fine.

Plus, Windler placed in the 85th percentile as a senior in pull-up shooting situations in the halfcourt, per Synergy. His all-around shooting presence should help open up the floor more for players like Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Kevin Porter Jr., Kevin Love, Isaac Okoro and Larry Nance Jr.

Windler will be more than catch-and-shoot/pull-up presence, though. He is an proficient cutter and finisher with both hands, is a good ball-mover that can aid in the secondary playmaking realm, and he’s a heady rebounder, as evidenced by him averaging 7.8 boards per contest at Belmont.

And Windler in the transition game could be another grab-and-go threat for Cleveland, which could help himself and, in particular, others on the floor with him, such as a big-time lob threat in Nance and/or a trailing shooting big in Love.

So how about Dotson, then?

The feeling is similar; the dude can really shoot it. He hit 36.8 and 36.2 percent from deep on 4.7 and 3.4 attempts per outing in the past two seasons with the New York Knicks, and on a Knicks squad that was hard-pressed to have legitimate spacing, that was noteworthy from my view.

Dotson can hit step backs at times, too, albeit his off-the-catch capabilities should make a difference when he’s in for Cleveland, feasibly in spurts.

And just like Windler, Dotson is a polished shooter operating off of movement, and he hit a solid 38.9 percent of his catch-and-shoot triple attempts in 2019-20, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data. On the Knicks last year, that was nothing to sneeze at, either.

Moreover, when both Windler and Dotson are out there for the Wine and Gold, their presence as shooters should help open up Cleveland’s key driving threats, and rollers.

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The off-ball work of both should open up cutting/lob deliveries as well, and could aid in opening up those feeds for Garland, KPJ, Love, Nance, Okoro and/or Cedi Osman, too.

Regarding the defensive end, Windler is again a good rebounder, and as a team defender, does have nice positional awareness, and he should get some deflections from his feel in that realm.

In relation to Dotson on the defensive end, though he’s not a shutdown-type of guy on the perimeter, Dotson battles if he is cross-matched on to bigger wings/4’s at times, and he sits and slides well.

He also is adept at getting skinny when needed in pick-and-roll coverage, and his help instincts/team defensive feel has improved in recent seasons, and Dotson plays with undeniable effort on the defensive end overall. And that shouldn’t be discounted.

So again, we’ll have to see as far as the minutes-share, which could seemingly be spurts for Dotson I’d imagine, though that could very well be stretches, anyhow, and Windler I’d still expect to be mostly a bench player next season.

But rest assured, both Windler and Dotson will make other Cavs players around them better, especially when considering both are big-time shooters, active movers and are very heady players.

Don’t undersell Windler as a secondary playmaker and PnR ball handler, either, though.