Lack of minutes for Cavs of late is telling for Dylan Windler

It’s been a minute for Windler here

Last season, he shot a fairly underwhelming 33.8 percent from three-point range in 2020-21. Windler had 5.2 points in 16.5 minutes per outing last season, which wasn’t necessarily noteworthy, no, although he finished inside as a cutter/occasional driver after hard closeouts respectably, and his team defense and rebounding were positive takeaways.

In Windler’s rotational play so far this season in stretches/spurts at the 2 and 3, his rebounding, to some extent, and team defensive feel have aided the Cavaliers. However, the catch-and-shoot play has again had its ups and downs. His minutes per game has dipped to 11.4, too, in which Windler has had 2.8 points per outing.

Now, Windler has knocked in 39.1 percent from three, albeit on 1.4 attempts per contest. And while we again have seen flashes from how Windler can be a true impact shooter off the bench, his hesitation and passivity far too often, when the opportunities have come in meaningful stretches, haven’t helped his case.

Windler, for instance, had two DNPs versus the Phoenix Suns and Orlando Magic, some garbage time minutes, most notably, at Dallas, and he had roughly four garbage time minutes at Miami.

And dating back to when he was receiving some legitimate minutes, particularly when Cleveland was more banged up a few weeks back, Windler last made multiple threes in a game on Nov. 12 in a win over the Detroit Pistons. He’s yet to make a triple in his last seven appearances in an average of 11.0 minutes; there haven’t necessarily been ample minutes for him, but he hasn’t exactly helped his case, either.

It’s uncertain if he’ll regularly get opportunities again, seemingly.