If Dylan Windler can make impact for Cavs, this would be a key reason why

This season was not one where Dylan Windler turned a corner for the Cleveland Cavaliers. In his de facto rookie season in 2020-21, there were some nice signs for Windler from a developmental perspective.

Last season, he again had injury troubles, starting early on with a fourth metacarpal fracture, and later on, he season was cut short once again because of injury. That was from Windler needing to eventually have surgery on his knee to address tendinopathy concerns, and overall, after missing his rookie year in relation to a stress reaction in his leg, Windler was only active in 31 games. This was out of a possible 72 in 2020-21.

On a positive note, Windler did show promise as a catch-and-shoot player last season, and made his presence felt on the defensive end, particularly from a team sense, and his rebounding and cutting feel were other positives. On the season, he had 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per outing, and while the injury issues didn’t help, he connected on 33.8 percent from three on 2.5 attempts per game.

This season, though, it was seemingly a step back for Windler. He was inactive in the first few games of the year with a hip injury as the culprit, and even with some encouraging signs earlier on in the season, and some play opening up with Lauri Markkanen out, and Collin Sexton’s injury, Windler didn’t ultimately take advantage nearly enough.

Windler still seemed to have issues with confidence, and his catch-and-shoot impact was spotty, unfortunately, and leading into the turn of the year-on, his shooting didn’t show much. In the later part of the season, Windler did get some opportunities off the bench, seemingly in favor of Cedi Osman at times, and his defense and rebounding were meaningful, but I still thought Osman should’ve been playing in those instances.

On the season overall, Windler had only 2.2 points and and 1.8 rebounds in 9.2 minutes per game, in what was 50 appearances. His three-point shooting hit rate dropped to 30.0 percent on 1.4 attempts per outing.

It’s difficult at this point to say if Windler can be a factor next season for the Cavaliers, and if the chances can come fairly regularly. If he can, though, part of the reasoning will simply be confidence-related and him pulling the trigger more when the chances do come, which to me, is still seemingly an issue.

If Windler can make an impact for the Cavs, his usage has to increase, clearly, and he has to prove he can be a rotational regular by the confidence being there.

As we alluded to, Windler was not able to build on his first season playing for Cleveland, but this go-round it wasn’t due to injuries. I thought Windler did fairly well in 2020-21, and while his shooting tailed off prior to his surgery, there was reason to believe he could build on that in his second year.

That’s not what transpired, however, and while his stint with the Cavaliers’ G League affiliate in the Cleveland Charge probably helped, him having to do that this season was concerning, in my opinion.

Maybe it’s not just all on Windler, and with others involved, I acknowledge that when he’s in there, Windler is not typically going to be a high-usage player. I get that, and that wasn’t the case in his first year.

Nonetheless, when the opportunities did come for Dylan, he didn’t seem to be confident in 2021-22 as a shooter, even when there were looks there for him. I get that some of it was probably that Cleveland needs to get him some looks off movement when he’s in there; even still, Windler had only 1.4 three-point attempts this season, as we noted, and per-36 minutes, he had 5.5.

That was a tad bit more than his first season, and I recognize per-36 splits for him as a shooter aren’t going to be what play out game-to-game, but the hesitation was still concerning, to me.

Windler had a usage rate of 11.6 percent, which ranked in only the 13th percentile among wings this season, per Cleaning The Glass. His previous season, that was 14.0 percent, which was in the 29th percentile among wings, per Cleaning The Glass, for context.

If Windler’s usage can be, say in the 40s, regarding the percentile next season, and he looks to be confident, perhaps he could establish himself as an impact rotational piece for Cleveland.

It’s just difficult to suggest that possibility now, as he was often out of the regular rotation for the Cavaliers during this season, and others such as Osman, Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens, and Sexton/Caris LeVert should be involved. Maybe two of the three involving Osman and Wade/Stevens end up not being back next season from offseason moves, involving an Osman trade and/or Wade or Stevens not being back.

With Windler, though, I wouldn’t be surprised, necessarily, if he were part of a potential trade package, either. That’s partly because of Stevens’ emergence, and with the Cavs potentially selecting a wing in the 2022 NBA Draft.

If Windler sticks around, however, and if opportunities do open up, his defense and rebounding have been positives, and he’s a smart secondary ball-mover. But it’s evident that if he can make a regular impact for Cleveland, Windler’s usage has to increase considerably, and coincided with that, the confidence has to be there.

The confidence just hasn’t been there nearly enough, from my perspective. Maybe that changes; I just right now have my doubts.