Cavs: This will always be underlying theme for Dylan Windler
By Dan Gilinsky
The passivity of late is no bueno
There definitely were glimpses of just how impactful he could be for Cleveland with his shooting range when he is comfortable, but the injury bug again struck, and Windler ended up only appearing in 31 games last season. On the year, he ended out converting on 33.8 percent of his three-point attempts, which was somewhat disappointing, with the potential he has.
This season, there has been some early success for Dylan too when the opportunities have been there, and he’s had three games of these past nine with multiple threes made. That said, part of the reason why it’s difficult to have a firm stance on Windler is the hesitation/passivity from him at times in games as a shooter with his capabilities.
Given how they were on the second leg of a back-to-back, and were without six regular rotation players, Thursday night’s loss to the Golden State Warriors was nothing to hang their heads about it. A 36-8 fourth quarter by Golden State was hard to stomach at first, sure, but that is the league’s best team, and Stephen Curry is, well, Stephen Curry. Windler being scoreless in 18 minutes and 0-of-1 from three was concerning, though.
In that game, and on other occasions, it’s still tough to watch when Windler, who is a more than capable shooter, look to be passive when pretty open looks come his way.
I do get that injuries played some of a role in that regard last season at times for him, however, from here, the underlying theme will be for him to be firing without hesitation when his chances arise.
For Dylan to have only 11 and 12 minutes in the two outings prior to Thursday’s game, with the injuries/absences the Cavs had this week, that was alarming, but when watching him at times this season, his passivity at times has not helped his case.
With the news involving Collin Sexton being out for the rest of the season as of Friday, as a side note, it’s all the more paramount that perimeter guys like Windler, who is capable of providing some of a shooting spark, help pick up some of the slack by committee, too.