SALT LAKE CITY -- After Dylan Windler’s first NBA action, Cleveland Cavaliers head John Beilein -- one of many who pushed for the youngster with the No. 26 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft -- wasn’t too focused on numbers.

Those were great, by the way. Windler scored 19 points on 8-of-14 from the field and 3-of-8 from 3-point range to go with six rebounds, three assists and two steals in Cleveland’s 97-89 loss to San Antonio in the Salt Lake City Summer League opener. He committed just one turnover in 30 minutes, getting caught trying to lob the ball over a defender’s high hands when coming around a pick. Immediately, Beilein instructed Windler to use a bounce pass or wrap-around in that situation. Consider that a lesson, one of the few blemishes on an otherwise sparkling night for the second pick of Cleveland’s three-pronged draft class.

But the most important number on Monday (albeit a summer league game against a handful of players that won’t be in the NBA) wasn’t 19, signifying his point total. It wasn’t three, as in the number of long-range shots he drained. It was 14. Windler’s plus-minus. The best on either team.

This isn’t the time to get carried away with stats. It’s way too early for that. There are countless cases of guys starring in summer league and then flopping in the NBA. But that plus-minus number matches the other analytics, which pointed Cleveland in Windler’s direction nearly two weeks ago.

“Analytics absolutely loved him,” one member of the organization said Monday.

Maybe it translates, maybe it doesn’t. But it highlights his ability to impact the game in a variety of ways, which is what Windler has always done. When his star teammates went away for a weekend during AAU, Windler was given a unique opportunity and capitalized, leading his team on a deep run and picking up scholarship offers. He also lifted Belmont to new heights, winning an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in school history. In his senior year, Windler ranked top 10 among all college players in effective field goal percentage. His Offensive Box Plus-Minus and Player Efficiency Rating (PER) both ranked in the top 15.

On Monday night, Windler, again, did the little things. That’s what stood out to Beilein, Lindsay Gottlieb, Jay Shunnar -- who is essentially Beilein’s special assistant, plucked from Michigan to be a trusted and valuable resource with the Cavaliers -- and other coaches on staff.

“I have a strong belief that you don’t just amass talent when you are putting a team together, you build a team,” Beilein said of Windler following the game. “He’s one of those components you need to have to make our other guys better. He’s going to make everybody better with the Cavaliers, just because the game is simple. He can really shoot the ball and he’s a very efficient player.”

Shortly after the draft, one member of the coaching staff perked up when discussing Windler’s shooting prowess. The Cavs felt they added a marksman who will space the floor, open driving lanes for Cleveland’s new and potentially-electrifying backcourt tandem Collin Sexton and Darius Garland and maybe even keep teams from double-teaming All-Star power forward Kevin Love. Instead of Sexton’s passes turning into pump-fake drives, Windler will be there to catch and fire, maybe boosting Sexton’s assist total and converting some of those opportunities that too often came up empty -- a point of frustration among members of the organization.

That potential impact is hard to quantify. So, too, is the rookie’s deft movement without the ball. Against San Antonio, Windler read the defense and darted quickly a few different times, cutting backdoor for easy hoops. That’s a must in Beilein’s system that demands read-and-react skills. It shows why Windler became an A student in Belmont head coach Rick Byrd’s offensive master class and why he has been able to pick up Beilein’s so rapidly.

Windler is also an underrated athlete, finishing in the 80th percentile at the combine in a few different categories designed to measure that -- lane agility, shuttle run and max vertical.

Those traits came into a play a couple times, driving past defenders, finishing in transition or bouncing off the hardwood to secure a rebound in traffic.

In the summer league opener, Beilein also experimented, putting the ball in Windler’s hands and asking him to create.

“He was really good. I’m trying to figure out how to use him best,” Beilein said. “Just try to dial him up as best we can. They switched a lot of ball screens, but I just like the way he moves, the way he instinctively has a really good feel for the game and seems to make the game easier.”

Even though there are areas Windler wants to clean up prior to Tuesday’s game against Utah, he said there wasn’t a specific welcome-to-the-league moment. That will come in time. He knows it’s too early for any kind of over-analyzation or declaration. Perspective is required, especially in July. But one of the knocks against last year’s promising rookie Sexton was his inability to make teammates better. It wasn’t all his fault. The circumstances played a massive role. The deeper metrics pointed to it being fair criticism, even if the numbers didn’t tell the entire story.

On Monday night, those same “impact-the-game" numbers labeled Windler as the most important player. One summer game into what the Cavaliers hope is a long and bright career, Windler already had his coaches gushing.

“He’s one of those guys who will make everybody better. Giving space or by making the simple, easy pass to the next open man,” Beilein said. “He’s not taking the extra dribble. He’s delivering the ball on time and on target so I was just really impressed by that in the training camp so far and then we really saw it today.”

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