Cavs: Dylan Windler could have ‘prominent’ role, if he stays available

Through two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers after he was selected by them in the 2019 NBA Draft, it’s been a tough go of it for Dylan Windler.

Windler missed all of his rookie campaign because of a stress fracture in his lower left leg, and in his de facto rookie year last season, he was active in only 31 games.

Early on, he missed a stretch of outings due to a fourth metacarpal fracture in his left hand, and unfortunately, a left knee injury that was initiatially designated as knee soreness in late March would cut his season short. Windler ended up having surgery in late April to address “ongoing patella tendinopathy concerns” related to that.

So needless to say, Windler hasn’t been able to stay available for Cleveland nearly enough to make his presence felt, by and large.

There were some flashes from Windler last season, but with the injury issues and him not being able to seemingly get in-rhythm, he had inconsistencies. On the season, he had 5.2 points per outing, and hit 33.8 percent of his three-point attempts, which was somewhat underwhelming.

On the plus side, there were times when his shooting potential and the deep range which was shown in his collegiate career at Belmont was on display. Windler’s team defense and rebounding abilities were positives as well, from my perspective.

Now, while we’ll need to see it game-to-game, he could have a very meaningful bench role for Cleveland, but he’ll have to remain healthy. In that realm, per a report from Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com in a recent mailbag set of responses, Fedor did state that Windler has been getting work in in voluntary scrimmages and could have seemingly a notable role if he’s available.

"“Windler has been taking part in Cleveland’s voluntary scrimmages at Cleveland Clinic Courts the past few weeks. Multiple sources say his knee is feeling good and he will be available when camp opens. Given Taurean Prince’s departure and Cleveland’s inability to sign a reliable wing in free agency, Windler could be in line for a prominent role — if he stays healthy.”"

Cavs: If Windler can stay healthy, he clearly could be an impact bench player.

Fedor’s report was encouraging about Windler getting some scrimmaging work in recently, and him being ready to roll for camp is good news with the season on the horizon.

As was noted in the report, though, that’s contingent on Windler being able to remain healthy for Cleveland. That simply hasn’t been the case to this point, as Cavs fans know all too well.

In theory, Windler could end up being a true impact player, at least in bench minutes at the 2 and 3. That’s feasibly in giving Isaac Okoro some relief, and/or for some play at the 2 position.

Windler wasn’t able to show nearly what I believe he could be capable of as a rotational wing shooter for the Cavaliers last season, nor the year prior, obviously because of the lack of availability. He wasn’t able to establish a rhythm nearly enough to get going for real stretches of say, six-plus games throughout last season, but the potential is there for him to provide quite a lift.

I know it was in college at Belmont, but him knocking down 40.6 percent of 534 deep attempts in a four-year career there was impressive. And if he can stay healthy, he could be a notable contributor in stretches off the bench as a movement shooter, spacer and quality cutting/finishing presence.

Now, could Windler be the contributor of say, offseason sign-and-trade acquisition, Lauri Markkanen? Definitely not.

However, the third-year wing could eventually be an additional key bench spacing presence, and I thought Windler defensively did a pretty solid job last season when he was regularly involved.

Anyway, hopefully the Belmont product can stay healthy from here, and ideally, I’d think it’d be sensible to get him ample play in preseason action for the Cavs, provided he keeps looking all squared away through camp until then.

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but my fingers are crossed for Windler/the Cavaliers.