Fit with the Bucks
Dylan Windler isn’t necessarily a clean fit for the Milwaukee Bucks given their current roster construction. However, his strengths as a basketball player are something they could sorely use.
We are only a couple of weeks removed from watching the Bucks’ offense struggle to get anything going on the offensive end in their Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Toronto Raptors. A big part of why that happened was their struggles in their half-court offense. Milwaukee’s success for much of the season came when their shooters were able to make open shots, particularly from three.
In the ECF, the Bucks were done in by the fact that few of the guys on their roster were great at making catch-and-shoot threes, something I highlighted in my piece here. With their shooters unable to make shots, the floor-spacing that was needed for Antetokounmpo to excel was not there. Toronto was able to shut down Milwaukee’s offense as a result.
Windler would help Milwaukee in this department. Given his ability to hit catch-and-shoot threes with regularity, especially deep threes above the break, he would provide the Bucks with another elite floor-spacer in the back-court. Milwaukee has made it a priority to target guys that can make threes consistently above-the-break. Windler fits that shot profile to a T.
Windler has also showed the ability to create offense for himself over each of the past two seasons. His size and athleticism would make him a threat on cuts and drives, especially if he can get an opposing defender in the air on a shot-fake. His elite shot-making ability on pull-ups would make him an excellent threat in transition. He also showed signs of being able to hit difficult step-back jumpers in his final games at Belmont, another tool that could improve his scoring.
Every team is in need of a scorer who can provide instant offense off the bench. the Bucks lacked that in the 2018-19 season. Windler could be their answer.
If he can get stronger, Windler’s size and wingspan could make him a candidate to rotate on defense and guard multiple positions. Even if he doesn’t get that much stronger right away, he’s still shown enough ability to be able to guard his position respectably.
Windler’s elite rebounding would also give the Bucks another guy who can clean up the boards on a consistent basis. Milwaukee got inconsistent help on the boards this year from the back-court players. Having him crashing the glass could allow Antetokounmpo to get out and run in transition more often.
Given that they’re picking last in the first round, Windler seems like the ideal type of player for that spot. He may never become an an All-Star, but his definitive skills mean he has a relatively high-floor as a shot-making role player off the bench in the NBA. That’s exactly the type of value a team is looking for late in the draft, especially one that’s looking to win a title in the near future.