Dylan Windler has had his ups and downs as a shooter for the Cleveland Cavaliers in what’s been basically his first season. Windler didn’t appear at all last season for the Cavs because of a stress reaction in his lower left leg.
He also had some really rough luck early on this season. In Windler’s first game playing for Cleveland in the opener, and that’s not counting a few appearances with the Cavs’ G League Affiliate, the Canton Charge, last season, he fractured the fourth metacarpal on his left hand. He then missed the next 13 games for the Cavaliers.
Since returning, Windler has again, been inconsistent as far as three-point shooting, but given the lack of experience last season for him, and the prior injury this season on his shooting hand, I’m giving him plenty of slack. Cavs fans as a whole should, too, by the way.
Windler has shown flashes still, though, and has moved without the ball really well game-to-game. We’ve seen off-movement shooting capabilities from Dylan, too, which are crucial looking onward in his minutes-share, and on right corner spot-ups, he’s had success, and above the break looks have been respectable off-the-catch.
Anyway, at this point, Windler’s averaged 5.6 points in 17.5 minutes per outing, and hit, while there’s been peaks and valleys, 34.7 percent from three-point range on the year in 27 appearances.
Minutes post-All-Star have been spotty for Dylan, though, but to me, he could in-line for a bigger role game-to-game to close out the season/post-deadline.
Windler could be in-line for a bigger post-deadline role for the Cavs.
That’s firstly because of trade rumors involving other rotational wings.
Factoring in trade rumors involving other Cavs wings
Cedi Osman and Taurean Prince have been mentioned in trade rumors, and in relation to Osman, the Brooklyn Nets, LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors have reportedly shown interest in him.
Could Osman or Prince (albeit he’s been banged up of late), feasibly be involved in a multi-team deal involving Andre Drummond, or perhaps be involved, maybe in theory, in a deal with the Chicago Bulls, who’ve reportedly shown interest in Drummond?
I could maybe see Osman or Prince included with Drummond in a trade with Chicago for rumored trade candidate Otto Porter Jr. and Tomas Satoransky. I’m not at all suggesting that’d happen, specifically, with Satoransky being recently reinstalled in Chicago’s starting unit, but perhaps in theory, it could.
Or maybe Osman could be moved to Golden State in exchange for perhaps Jordan Poole, Allen Smailagic and Kevon Looney? That’s factoring in a potential JaVale McGee corresponding trade elsewhere, as he’s been a rumored trade candidate, too.
Granted, the Dubs are still short on bigs, and Poole, who I’d like to see with Cleveland, has come on of late and had a nice G League bubble performance with the Santa Cruz Warriors.
In any case, if Osman and/or Prince were to be moved, whether it’s via multi-team trades by the March 25 deadline, I wouldn’t be that surprised.
Even if not, though, given how Prince even before being banged up (ankle, shoulder) had tapored off, and with Osman largely struggling as a shooter and not being nearly as capable as Windler defensively, I still could foresee Windler having more of a role post-deadline.
That’s involving rotational minutes-share at the 2 and 3, both of which Windler has proven to have, and to me, he could mesh especially well with Larry Nance Jr., and has shown good timing in movement playing in spurts with Darius Garland, for example. His defense has been a positive, too.
Both lead me to the other part of my reasoning for why Dylan could have a bigger role for Cleveland post-deadline. And that’s again, whether or not Osman/Prince are moved, and I’d think at least one could very well be.
Windler should be more comfortable, and has been solid for the Cavs defensively
As we alluded to, Windler has had ups and downs as a perimeter shooter, but has shown the potential to be quite the knockdown guy off the bench for stretches when he’s been in-rhythm.
And on a positive note, Windler’s finishing has been encouraging as a cutter, and on interior push shots, he’s shown he has nice touch with both hands, and as the season progresses, I’d expect him to shown that more as a counter in his burn.
Plus, on the other end, as we also hit on, Dylan has done a pretty nice job in containing dribble penetration against matchups on opposing guards, some wings, and while there have been some occasional rookie fouls, his contests have been mostly sound. And frankly, that sort of thing is still something the aforementioned Osman struggles with in on-balll matchups and/or as a rotator.
Additionally, Windler has done a nice job at getting his hands on passes/getting deflections as a helper, as evidenced by 1.2 steals per-36 minutes, and has even had a healthy 2.3 percent block rate.
Moreover, for Dylan, I’d think he could be in-line for a bigger role post-trade deadline, considering Osman/Prince trade rumors, and with him often making an impact, even amid shooting inconsistencies, thus far.
I’d imagine he could cut into Isaac Okoro’s minutes a bit, but regardless, could even play in some spurts with Osman, if he’s around, as they still have thus far, and even some with Okoro, with Isaac at the 2. Of course, two-way Lamar Stevens could see some burn on the wing/as a small-ball 4, too, anyhow.
Albeit in the closing stretch of the season, I’d still think Windler could have a bigger role, playing four or five or so minutes more often than he’s averaged post-deadline, and when he’s in there, Cleveland could look to get him more shots even.
That’s via off-movement looks, of which Nance could help with, for one, and perhaps if/when Matthew Dellavedova is back, he could work really well with Dylan, an adept cutter, too.
So to drive it home, Windler could seemingly be in-line for a larger role in the closing stretch of his de facto rookie year, with how he’s been able to contribute in a number of ways, even when his shot’s not been falling.
Him having 7.9 rebounds per-36 minutes has been pretty darn good, for further context as well.