Cavs: A nice start would help Dylan Windler establish clear role

We haven’t seen Dylan Windler in game action much of his first two seasons for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He missed all of what was formally his rookie campaign in 2019-20 because of complications involving a stress reaction in his lower left leg, for one.

Last season, Windler only appeared in 31 games due to a fourth left metacarpal fracture early on and then beginning in late March, he was sidelined from what was originally designated as back soreness. And Windler would then in late April have successful surgery on his left knee to address “ongoing tendinopathy concerns” from there, and would no longer appear in the last few weeks of 2020-21.

Point being, it’s been tough sledding for Windler since he was drafted with the Cavaliers, as he just hasn’t been able to remain healthy.

That’s unfortunate for him, as he didn’t have injury issues in a four-year collegiate career at Belmont, and it seemed as if Windler could possibly be a plug-and-play rotational shooter for Cleveland. It hasn’t worked out that way, though.

Last season, Windler did show flashes, but he wasn’t able to really get into a rhythm game-to-game for enough stretches of games when he was regularly involved.

Even still, if Windler can have a productive training camp and/or preseason, that’d aid his chances coming into 2021-22. And a nice start to next season could cement his place in Cleveland’s rotation.

A nice start to next year could help Windler establish a clear role for the Cavs.

Windler was fairly underwhelming in the games he was able to go last season, as he knocked in only 33.8 percent of his three-point shot attempts and had 5.2 points in 16.5 minutes per outing. The lack of rhythm didn’t help, nor did a COVID-19-impacted de facto rookie campaign.

Even with it only being Las Vegas Summer League, him not being able to get a couple of games of action in that with Evan Mobley and others, though it wasn’t a big deal, was a bit of just the latest for Windler. The Cavaliers didn’t want him in there as a precautionary measure relating to his prior knee surgery/the recovery from it.

Windler has not been participating in 5-on-5 reps yet, but he is reportedly on schedule and is hoping to be full-go in training camp, which is slated to begin in late September. It’s been a tough road for him, as he laid out in an interview last week with Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, and one could imagine. Windler knows this season he needs to prove himself, too.

However, if Dylan can stay healthy and not have pain, which he’s had to endure so much of to begin his career, he could very well be a solid bench contributor for Cleveland as a floor spacer for Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and others.

He is seemingly on track to be back at the outset, and hopefully, we can see him in there in preseason for the Wine and Gold to get himself going to some degree. Although it’s uncertain currently if that will be the case/how Windler responds if he is full-go in camp.

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That said, if Windler can have opportunities in meaningful playing time to get going early on next season, of which I believe he definitely could, particularly with Taurean Prince being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, a nice start could do wonders for him.

He is a player that moves without the ball really well, and even with the perimeter shooting inconsistencies for him last year, his finishing as a cutter was good, and he flashed nice touch on push shots.

But I do get that he needs to get it going from deep, and for a club that was last in three-point shooting percentage last year, that’s paramount for Dylan, who was touted as a knockdown shooter.

That’s for legitimate reason too, as he did knock on 40.6 percent of his 534 three-point shot attempts at Belmont, and his deep range, when fully healthy, was on display at 2019 Summer League, as Fedor expressed. The abilities off-the-catch and some via pull-ups are there for Windler, if he is fully right.

Now, that’s a big if at this point, in fairness; if he can be set to go though and can get some rhythm in preseason, that’d help his rotational outlook.

Of course, Windler needs to showcase that he can get it done for the Cavs when the opportunities present themselves off the bench, but I do believe they will come. That’s with the big-time shooting potential he has and the off-ball viability.

Plus, Windler’s 7.5 rebounds per-36 minutes was a positive, as were his 1.3 steals per-36. His team defense was impressive, from my perspective, in 2020-21, also.

It’ll be up to the Belmont product to go out and get it done pretty early on next season, in any case. And him being available to get himself going will help; hopefully that’s what plays out.