With the Cavs in their own bubble, spending the last two days quarantining at the team hotel, sources say fans should expect to see a hulked-up Collin Sexton, a slimmer and more toned Kevin Porter Jr. who has been sporting a braided-look hairstyle, an in-shape Darius Garland and a healthy Dylan Windler. Those four, all added in the draft’s first round over the last two years, will play the biggest part in the success — or failure — of this rebuild.
Dylan Windler Rumors
All NBA Players
Position: F-G
Born: 09/22/96
Height: 6-6 / 1.98
Weight:200 lbs. / 90.7 kg.
Salary: $2,035,800
Born: 09/22/96
Height: 6-6 / 1.98
Weight:200 lbs. / 90.7 kg.
Salary: $2,035,800
Not everyone will make the Cavaliers Bubble this week. As Edgerrin James once famously said: “I only went to college 2 ½ years, but I know what ‘voluntary’ means.” And for all teams holding workouts during this time, it’s completely voluntary. The Cavaliers in attendance are veteran frontline starters – Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr. – all three of last year’s first rounders – Darius Garland, Dylan Windler and Kevin Porter Jr. – the squad’s leading scorer, Collin Sexton, and reserves Dante Exum, Alfonzo McKinnie and the newly-added Jordan Bell.
This has been the toughest year of Dylan Windler’s life. The first round pick has yet to play a game in the NBA. After being taken 26th overall by the Cavaliers in last June’s NBA Draft, the former Belmont star played through pain at the Vegas Summer League. He then had to shut things down in training camp due to a stress fracture in his leg. “Kind of right after the college season ended I really didn’t get to stop or take any time off,” Windler said. “And it kind of just grew on me more and more and continued to get worse and worse.”
Windler is getting close to getting back on the court. “I’m probably 70 or 80 percent of the way there,” Windler said. “It’s been a little over three months right now and I think the doc’s saying maybe a month or a month and a half before I’m able to play live basketball again.”
Windler says it’s still unlikely he’ll be able to play if and when this season resumes, even if it stretches through the summer. But he believes his year of watching from the sidelines has made him more ready for the NBA game whenever he gets back on the court. “I got to still travel with the team this year and see games,” Windler said. “Just being able to watch that film and talk with the coaches and kind of get a better feel for our offense and how they want to run things. I think it will give me a bit of a jumpstart going into next year.”
Kelsey Russo: #Cavs were granted a disabled player exception for Dylan Windler, sources told @TheAthleticNBA . Windler underwent successful surgery on Jan. 21 for his lower leg stress reaction.
Kelsey Russo: The Cavs have applied for a disabled player exception for Dylan Windler, sources tell @The Athletic . It was announced on Monday that Windler would miss the remainder of the 2019-20 season and require surgery for his lower leg stress reaction.
Sources told The Athletic that Dylan Windler is slowly moving toward on-court activities and seeing how he handles the workload.
Before Windler was shut down on Dec. 13, Windler went down to the Cavs’ G League affiliate, the Canton Charge. He played in two games with the Charge before he experienced the soreness that resulted in him being shut down. Sources said his response to the increased workload would determine if he would see time with the Charge or stay with the Cavs.
