Windler provided a big shooting injection down the stretch of the 2023-24 season.
It’s rare you see a 27-year-old journeyman on a two-way contract, but Dylan Windler has never quite walked the normal NBA career path. Windler was drafted out of Belmont in 2019 with the 26th overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers. After a rookie year injury that ended his season, he spent most of his rookie contract bouncing between the Cavs and their G League affiliate, the Canton Charge.
After two-way stints with the Knicks and the Lakers earlier this season, a roster spot opened up after the Hawks converted Trent Forrest to a standard contract (only after exhausting Forrest’s 50-game eligibility limit).
Windler is the rare ‘3-and-rebounding’ wing archetype who is most recognized for grabbing a record 30 rebounds in a game with the South Bay Lakers. The Hawks grabbed him in March for extra wing depth in their stretch run to the postseason, and Windler was able to appear in six games, averaging five points and two rebounds per game while shooting 47% from three in 12 minutes a contest.
Windler’s hops and relentless effort on the glass are atypically rare for a wing-sized guy who generally floats near the three-point line. In fact, he has an overall NBA-level athletic build and doesn’t look out of place as a fringe guy in the league. He uses his 6-foot-7 frame and 6-foot-11 wingspan well in sliding his feet on defense and staying vertical when defending in the paint.
Windler is often unfairly labeled as a pure catch-and-shoot three-point shooter, but he has a functional handle to free him some space around the arc.
He was a good fit for head coach Quin Snyder’s motion offense with the ability to move the ball when flowing into a side action.
Here, he flashed nice awareness to ghost a drag screen and cut for an easy score.
And of course, a clip of him crashing the glass on offense — one of his calling cards.
At exit interviews, he talked about the process of coming to the Hawks organization in the middle of the season, saying, “I came into it with an open mind. Just trying to do anything that they wanted me to do. Came in, took a few games for me to get some opportunity. And then the opportunity came, and I was able to get some decent minutes and some games off the bench. Felt like I was able to show a little bit of what I can do for this time and how I can help. Shooting, crashing the glass, being a glue guy/energy guy for this team. And I look forward to having another opportunity and seeing where I can take it.”
“A lot of teams have similar concepts, but there’s always a lot of different names for stuff,” he continued about his previous stops to Atlanta this past season. “And you gotta remember what stuff means for different actions. So that part takes time — a couple of weeks you kind of get acclimated into the system. Coach [Snyder has] got a different type of offensive system that I seem to like, I enjoy playing in. The flow concept. I got adjusted to that pretty quick. The first couple of weeks — it’s really all I did. Just focus on the offense and see how I could fit in.”
“What I like to do is get a lot of shots up and play free and play in that flow motion,” Windler remarked, talking about his game and the fit here in Atlanta. “It’s a credit to [Snyder]. I think he’s a great coach, but he really gives his players the freedom to play the game like they should, like they would want to. He does a great job. The flow offense puts me in a lot of great positions. To be able to shoot, catch and shoot, and make decisions off the bounce.”
Windler will now be an unrestricted free agent as this season (finally) exhausted his two-way contract eligibility. There’s a chance he’s brought back on a veteran minimum deal to continue to provide size and shooting to a team that desperately needs this archetype of player.