Cavs: Dylan Windler-Larry Nance Jr. is a 2-man game to watch in 2nd half

The Cleveland Cavaliers just got back Larry Nance Jr. on Friday versus the New Orleans Pelicans in what was Cleveland’s first game post-All-Star break. He’d been missed, to say the least, by the Wine and Gold, too.

Nance had been sidelined for Cleveland’s last 12 games heading into the All-Star break, after him having fractured his left hand in a Feb. 6 loss versus the Milwaukee Bucks. It was really nice to see Jr. back in game action on Friday, even while the result for the group was a blowout loss.

Leading into that one, Nance had done a pretty solid job in a mostly starting 4 thus far with Kevin Love having been sidelined for nearly the whole season due to a grade 2 right calf strain of which he reaggravated. Love ended up being back versus the Pels as well, but he’ll be gradually worked back; he played 10 minutes.

Before that New Orleans contest in Nance’s case, though, while not the scoring presence of Love, did have 9.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and tied a career-high with 3.2 assists per outing. Plus, Nance, even after a tough start from there, had been hitting a career-best 38.1 percent of his also career-high 3.3 three-point attempts per game.

And as Cavs fans are well-aware of, Nance is likely Cleveland’s most impactful defender. He’s typically highly capable on-ball against opposing 3’s and 4’s, is pretty switchable on to guards in pick-and-roll when needed, and though he isn’t a qualifying near-leader, has been second in steals per game with 1.9.

Point being, getting Nance back was big, even with it likely being a handful of games before he has his shot back. He did hit two of four from deep on Friday, however.

And while he’ll help guys such as Collin Sexton, Isaac Okoro and Darius Garland, when Garland is back in the fold, as he missed on Friday due to a left groin strain, I firmly believe Dylan Windler should mesh particularly well with Jr. in the second half.

The Windler-Nance two-man game is one to watch for the Cavs in the second half.

Windler has been largely up-and-down as a catch-and-shoot threat, but that’s understandable, as he didn’t play at all in 2019-20 because of a stress reaction in his lower left leg. And from there, he fractured his left hand in Cleveland’s season opener, and was then out for 13 games.

We have seen flashes of Windler’s deep range, though, and though he has missed his last 11 three-point attempts, he did hit nine straight in two games before that.

He hit 40.6 percent of his 534 collegiate triple attempts in a four-year career at Belmont, too, and if the Cavaliers can get him going more consistently off movement, which has been the case here and there, perhaps he can string nice shooting outings together more. I don’t foresee that being far-fetched. For now, he’s hit 34.8 percent from deep on the season.

Now, we haven’t seen Windler and Nance together in game action much to this point, with that only having been six games, but to me, they could mesh together rather quickly in the second half in burn together.

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And although we’ll have to see if something will materialize by the March 25 deadline, Cedi Osman and Taurean Prince have been mentioned in trade rumors, so perhaps that could lead to more of a role for Windler, if either are moved?

Of course, we’ll have to see, but for what it’s worth, while Nance has had his share of interested suitors reportedly, it still seems extremely unlikely he’ll be dealt, and the Cavs aren’t intending to deal him at all it appears.

Circling back from that point, I’d expect Nance and Windler to play off each other really well.

Nance is a great screener, on-ball, sure, but also is off the ball, which should help out Windler often. That could potentially lead to more looks off flare screens set by Nance, and/or with Jarrett Allen/Kevin Love, some double staggers.

Windler I’d imagine should benefit from handoffs from Nance, who really times those up well, too, and Dylan could fire away in those instances. Or Nance could fake that dropoff, and Windler could cut toward the basket for interior shots.

Plus, as a counter, Windler could occasionally look for floaters/push shots coming off of those handoffs, and if those are taken away, could maybe look to hit Nance for a spot-up more as the year progresses?

In some instances in the Windler-to-Nance passing sense, I could foresee Dylan looking to Jr. on diagonal cuts off-ball, too, or even with lob passes over-the-top even here and there, as Windler can hit those.

And lastly, with Nance, whose had a solid 13.3 percent assist rate, being a gifted passing big, and with Windler moving so well off-ball, I’d expect to see him get Windler some skip feeds to the corners, and perhaps even some looks off of Windler relocation.

Moreover, while I expected to see these two mesh pretty well in burn together last season pre-Windler having injury woes, I’d imagine feasibly off the bench for plenty of the second half, Windler-Nance should be a two-man game to watch from here.

That’s in varying lineups, too, anyhow, and in spurts/some stretches with Isaac Okoro, too.