Cleveland Cavaliers: Dylan Windler could be dark horse trade candidate

We haven’t seen Dylan Windler much in game action for the Cleveland Cavaliers through two seasons since he was selected by them in the 2019 NBA Draft.

Windler missed all of what was formally his rookie campaign because of complications involving a stress reaction in his lower left leg, and last season, he had his share of injury problems as well.

In Windler’s first game, the 2020-21 opener, he fractured the fourth metacarpal on his left hand, and would then miss the next 13 outings.

There were some positive signs when he was able to get game action, on the plus side, and I thought his defensive activity, cutting/off-ball movement and rebounding feel were nice takeaways from his play in his de facto rookie year.

Unfortuately, Windler’s catch-and-shoot production was not there nearly enough to be that meaningful for at all elongated stretches, which was a bit underwhelming.

And while again he was in a tough spot anyway as a shooter leading into it, Windler in late March initially would miss a few games due to what was designated as knee soreness, but would miss a number of them, and one had to be worried.

Eventually in late April, he underwent left knee surgery to “address ongoing patella tendinopathy concerns.” He was ruled out indefinitely, albeit it was then reported that Windler was expected to be out through Summer League; we’ll see if he gets action during then.

In any case, with Windler, there is still potential for him to be a difference-making catch-and-shoot, I would think as a reserve, for Cleveland, if he can be mostly healthy from here, and be able to establish a shooting rhythm game-to-game. His team defense, finishing and rebounding were again positives from his first season, though he only appeared in 31 games in 2020-21, having 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per contest.

Nonetheless, even with him seeming to maybe be a solid bench contributor, and could show that early on if he gets the chances next season, I can’t help but think that there could seemingly be a possibility that he could part of a potential trade package before next season.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Windler could be a dark horse candidate to be traded.

Firstly, he could be an additional sweetener as still a younger wing as part of a package involving a Cavs vet, to go with a future pick or two.