Dylan Windler Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Porzingis, Windler, Walker, Awards Ballot

April 17th, 2025 at 3:57pm CST by Rory Maher

Assuming he’s healthy, Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis intends to play for Latvia during the EuroBasket tournament this summer, as EuroHoops.net relays.

“Whether I want to play for the national team or not – that’s a silly question,” Porzingis said, according to FIBA. “The past few summers didn’t work out because I was injured. I’ve never refused the national team. When I haven’t played, it’s because of injuries. This summer, I’ll be there. Health is the main thing – then everything else will follow.”

Here are a few more items of interest from around the basketball world:

Former NBA wing Dylan Windler spent the 2024/25 season with the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League. The Australian team announced in a press release that it has re-signed the 28-year-old to a new two-year contract. “It just felt right to come back to Perth, I feel like we’ve got some unfinished business in the playoffs after going out in the semi-finals like we did,” Windler said. “We enjoyed it there and it’s a great situation for me basketball-wise and I look forward to continuing to build on the team that we had last year and see what new faces we can bring in and what we can build together.”
Veteran NBA guard Kemba Walker, who made four All-Star teams during his time in the league, announced his retirement as a player last July. However, evidently he will return to the hardwood this summer, according to Chris Haynes, who reports (via Twitter) that Walker has reached an agreement to play in the BIG3. Dwight Howard will also be competing in the 3-on-3 league. Walker spent this past season as a player enhancement coach with the Hornets.
Tim Bontemps of ESPN has an official NBA awards ballot. He recently revealed his choices for all the major 2024/25 awards as well as some of the reasoning behind the selections. Perhaps most interestingly, Bontemps voted for Clippers center Ivica Zubac as Defensive Player of the Year, with Cavaliers forward/center Evan Mobley finishing as his runner-up.

International Notes: Beverley, Harrell, Windler, Toohey

September 22nd, 2024 at 9:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Patrick Beverley‘s new coach with Hapoel Tel Aviv believes he has a lot to learn about the international game after spending the last 12 years in the NBA, according to a BasketNews report. Beverley was one of several high-profile additions for the Israeli team this summer, and coach Stefanos Dedas said in a recent podcast that it’s been challenging to manage all the new talent.

“No, [they are] not easy [to coach],” Dedas said. “Beverley is not easy to coach because he has some habits from the NBA. We talk every day with him. He says, ‘Coach me, coach me, curse me out!’ I say, ‘Don’t give me this [opportunity], it’s what I love.’ I had to change Patrick’s mentality about the preseason. It doesn’t count in the NBA, but here, it counts. You need to win, you need to collect the credit that the play is good and the roster is good. The result matters only during the night of the game, but you have a good feeling because you played well.”

At age 36, Beverley is bringing his trademark fiery approach to Hapoel Tel Aviv, along with a wealth of knowledge he collected as an NBA veteran. His defensive prowess and understanding of the game are assets in any league.

“Nobody says he’s a one-man show player because he was never like this,” Dedas said. “He has the mentality of a high-level role player, guarding the opponent’s best player, drive-kick, pass to the shooter. He knows the job very well.”

There’s more international news to pass along:

Montrezl Harrell, the NBA’s former Sixth Man of the Year, made an immediate impact with Adelaide in his NBL debut, per Olgun Uluc of ESPN. Harrell came off the bench to post 13 points and 12 rebounds in a little over 20 minutes, and he caught the attention of Jaylen Adams, an ex-NBA player who’s now a star in Australia. “He’s a competitor, a big physical guy,” Adams said. “I thought he played good tonight, for somebody who got here a week ago, too. It was fun to compete. It kind of brought the best out of me, and I think it brought the best out of a lot of guys.”
Perth’s coach wants newly signed Dylan Windler to be more focused about seeking his own shots in the NBL than he was in the NBA, Uluc adds. Windler had six points, 10 rebounds and four assists as a reserve in his first game in Australia. “He’s played in the NBA the last four years in a particular role, [but] I actually want him to be a bit more aggressive and probably play a little bit more how he was in college,” coach John Rillie said.
Sam Venecie, draft expert at The Athletic, is impressed by the early-season performance of Alex Toohey (Twitter link). Vecenie views the Australian forward as a first-round talent for 2025.

Dylan Windler Signs With NBL Team

August 22nd, 2024 at 9:10pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

9:10pm: Windler’s one-year contract with Perth is official, the team announced (Twitter link via Olgun Uluc of ESPN).

9:01pm: Free agent swingman Dylan Windler is signing with the Perth Wildcats of Australia’s National Basketball League, sources inform Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

The 27-year-old vet was selected with the No. 26 pick out of Belmont in 2019 by the Cavaliers. He spent his first three NBA seasons in Cleveland before playing for the Knicks, Lakers and Hawks in 2023/24.

Windler had been on a standard contract in New York (after starting out on a two-way deal), but was only signed to two-way agreements with Los Angeles and Atlanta, finishing the year on a two-way deal with the Hawks. However, he was no longer eligible to sign a two-way contract in 2024/25.

Over the course of his NBA career, the 6’6″ wing boasts averages of 3.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.8 dimes per game, with a shooting line of .425/.347/.800. The southpaw toggled between the NBA and the G League throughout the last four seasons.

In 29 career regular season G League appearances, Windler has averaged 13.0 points (on .462/.370/.653 shooting), 8.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.0 steals per night. During his tenure in the G League, Windler played for the Canton/Cleveland Charge, the South Bay Lakers, and the Westchester Knicks.

Per Scotto, Windler is still the NBAGL record holder for the most rebounds pulled down over the course of a single game, with 33.

Southeast Notes: Mills, Spoelstra, Gueye, Bufkin, Windler, Wagners

June 18th, 2024 at 10:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Patty Mills only appeared in 32 games with the Hawks and Heat this season but the 35-year-old guard isn’t ready to retire. Mills will head into free agency looking for a new deal, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

“I take really good care of myself and my body and the plan is to continue to play until the wheels fall off is how I see it,” he said. Mills, who added he’d prefer to stay with the Heat, will play for Australia in the Paris Olympics.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

The Heat‘s early postseason exit has allowed coach Erik Spoelstra to spend more time evaluating draft prospects, though he’s offering opinions rather than getting too involved in the process. “I figured I had three days to get up to speed on the draft last year,” he told Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “The eight weeks leading up to [this year’s draft], I think I’ll just be probably overconfused by overanalysis. I’ll stay out of the way. Now that I have more time, I’m probably dangerous. I’ll stay out of the way of our scouting department. They do an exceptional job — Adam Simon and his staff — preparing for that draft.”
Mouhamed Gueye, Kobe Bufkin and Dylan Windler are expected to play on the Hawks’ Summer League squad next month, Brad Rowland of the LockedOnHawks podcast tweets. General manager Landry Fields made that revelation during his press conference on Monday. Gueye and Bufkin were on Atlanta’s 15-man roster to finish the season, while Windler was a two-way player.
Germany won the FIBA World Cup last summer, defeating Team USA along the way. The Magic‘s Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner will now try to lead their home country to a gold medal at the Olympics. “It’s a dream come true for me as a player,” Franz told Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. The Magic hold an $8MM option on Moritz’s contract for next season, so he could wind up as a free agent next month.

Southeast Notes: Clifford, Windler, Houstan, Bagley, Vukcevic

March 24th, 2024 at 10:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Steve Clifford has seen a lot of losing since returning to the Hornets‘ sidelines last season, but Saturday’s blowout in Atlanta stood out because of a lack of competitiveness from his team, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte dropped its fourth straight game in the midst of a 17-53 season, and Clifford was upset that his players didn’t fight back after falling behind early.

“As soon as we started subbing, our intensity went downhill and we never really got it back,” he said. “That was just as poor an effort, and just for a team that’s tried all year, we didn’t try very hard. We’re not going to be able to do that. I thought Miles (Bridges) was really good. And in terms of effort, it ended there.”

When Clifford became the Hornets’ coach last season, he inherited a team that was already off to a rough start in its rebuilding process. None of its draft picks from 2021 panned out — including first-rounders Kai Jones and James Bouknight — which creates a difficult situation for a franchise that’s not in position to attract top free agent talent.

“I remember we used to say all the time, ‘It gets late early in the NBA,’” Clifford said. “You bring a guy in who had been in college four years and he doesn’t play well in his first year, those guys would be gone. But you’re crazy to do that now because the guys are so young. Everything used to be, you drafted in performance. Now, you’re drafting by potential and it’s much, much harder. Younger players are not as ready to play, and it makes it harder on coaches, but it makes it much, much harder on management.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Injuries have forced the Hawks to go deep into their bench, notes Lauren Williams of The Journal-Constitution. That included 19 minutes Saturday night for Dylan Windler, who made his home debut after signing a two-way contract earlier this month. “I felt pretty comfortable for the most part,” Windler said. “Obviously, I haven’t had any live extended minutes like that in a while. So, it just feels good to get up and down for a little bit, try to get my legs back. But for the most part it felt comfortable. Just trying to add a little bit of energy to us, add a spark, crash the boards hard and make shots for us.”
Caleb Houstan made a rare start for the Magic on Saturday with Gary Harris unavailable due to a right plantar fascia strain, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. However, the second-year small forward experienced soreness in his left ankle and didn’t play in the second half. Coach Jamahl Mosley said Houstan will be evaluated today.
Wizards big man Marvin Bagley III returned Saturday after missing nearly three weeks with lower back spasms, according to Stephen Whyno of The Associated Press. Tristan Vukcevic, who signed with Washington 11 days ago, played three minutes in his NBA debut. “It was amazing, a dream come true,” Vukcevic told Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network (video link).

Southeast Notes: Bey, Windler, Wizards, Mosley

March 7th, 2024 at 7:32pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Hawks forward Saddiq Bey is no stranger to hard work, transforming himself into a more physical player who’s averaging a career-high 6.5 rebounds per game and is driving to the basket more often, writes Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscriber link).

Williams dives into Bey’s regimen and work with trainer Myron Flowers. Bey, who will be a restricted free agent this offseason if he’s extended a qualifying offer, has played a variety of roles for the Hawks.

Bey is averaging 13.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest this season. He’s in the final year of his rookie contract, making $4.6MM this season, and recently met the “starter criteria” for potential restricted free agents, so if he’s extended a qualifying offer, it will be worth $8.5MM.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

The Hawks signed Dylan Windler to a two-way contract on Monday, and he’s already seeing how he can mesh with the team, Williams writes in a separate story. “I mean, even just from the little bits I’ve seen and playing against the Hawks from time to time, seeing Coach Quin’s system, I think it’s a system that I fit right into it,” Windler said. “A lot of threes up, run, good spacing, crash the offensive glass, prioritize next possessions. And so I think it’s a system I good fit really well into.“
The Wizards fell to Orlando on Wednesday, blowing a 21-point lead en route to a franchise record-tying 16th consecutive loss, The Washington Post’s Ava Wallace observes. “Yeah, we addressed [the streak],” point guard Tyus Jones said. “But six games, 16 games, you don’t want to lose many in a row, ever. Regardless of how many it is. At this point … we’ve got to be more desperate. We’ve got to want it more. We don’t want it enough right now. We’ve got to come out and by any means get a win, and that’s not the attitude we have right now.“
The Magic, conversely, won their fifth straight game by beating Washington and are in fourth in the Eastern Conference. Josh Robbins of The Athletic explores the job Jamahl Mosley has done in Orlando this season, writing that he should at least be in the conversation for Coach of the Year. Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony and Moritz Wagner are key contributors who praise Mosley’s ability. “He has some fire to him,” Wagner said. “Obviously, you need to have that. I think we all trust him. I think he trusts us to respond. He cares a lot. As players, we feel that when your coach cares about you. So, you take to heart what he says.“

Contract Details: Lawson, K. Brown, Forrest, Barlow, Bouyea, More

March 6th, 2024 at 6:54am CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks used a portion of their non-taxpayer mid-level exception to give A.J. Lawson a $1MM rest-of-season salary and a four-year contract when they promoted him to their standard roster, Hoops Rumors has learned.

While Lawson’s 2023/24 salary of $1MM – which is well above his prorated minimum – is guaranteed, he’s not necessarily assured of any money beyond this season. His minimum salaries for the following three years are fully non-guaranteed. If he plays out the full contract, the Mavericks wing would earn approximately $7.91MM.

Here are more details on recently signed contracts around the NBA:

The three-year contract that Kendall Brown signed with the Pacers features a starting salary of $1.1MM, which came out of the team’s room exception. This season is the first year that the room exception can be used to sign players for up to three years instead of just two, and Indiana took advantage of that flexibility to give Brown non-guaranteed minimum salaries in 2024/25 and ’25/26, with a team option on that final year. He’ll receive a partial guarantee of $250K if he makes the Pacers’ regular season roster in the fall.
The new contracts for Hawks guard Trent Forrest and Spurs forward Dominick Barlow are just rest-of-season, minimum-salary deals, which suggests that those two players just got standard conversions from their two-way contracts rather than negotiating new terms. Forrest will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, while Barlow will be eligible for restricted free agency.
As expected, both Shake Milton (Knicks) and Mike Muscala (Thunder) signed rest-of-season, minimum-salary contracts with their new clubs.
Like fellow San Antonio newcomer RaiQuan Gray, Jamaree Bouyea signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Spurs, so his new contract runs through the 2024/25 season.
The two-way deals recently signed by Jeff Dowtin (Sixers), Jacob Gilyard (Nets), Jacob Toppin (Knicks), Ish Wainright (Suns), Quenton Jackson (Pacers), Harry Giles (Lakers), and Dylan Windler (Hawks) are all one-year (rest-of-season) contracts, so those players will be eligible to become restricted free agents this summer.

Dylan Windler Signs Two-Way Deal With Hawks

March 4th, 2024 at 6:00pm CST by Tristan Tucker

6:00pm: The deal is now official, according to a release from the team.

5:48pm: Free agent guard/forward Dylan Windler is signing a two-way contract with the Hawks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The Hawks had an open two-way slot after converting Trent Forrest to a standard deal, so no corresponding move is required.

Windler spent most of the year on a two-way deal with the Lakers before he was waived over the weekend to make room for Harry Giles. He began the year on a two-way contract with the Knicks.

In 11 games this year between the Knicks and Lakers, Windler has averaged 1.3 points. He has been much more productive in the G League, averaging 13.3 points and 8.2 rebounds in 16 games. He turned heads earlier this season by recording a G League single-game record 33 rebounds on Jan. 5.

He’s eligible to be active in 12 of Atlanta’s 22 remaining games this season.

Windler, 27, was the 26th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. He spent the first three years of his career with the Cavaliers, averaging 3.3 points and 2.3 rebounds in 84 games with the Cavs. Even though two-way players are limited to three or fewer years of service, Windler is eligible for a two-way contract due to the new “Harry Giles rule,” which allows players with four years of service to sign two-way deals if they missed a full season due to injury.

Because of the terms of the rule, Windler is only eligible to sign a one-year two-way deal, which means he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency this offseason. He’ll have the rest of the season to make an impression on the organization and compete for a spot on the standard roster for next season.

Lakers Sign Harry Giles To Two-Way Contract

March 2nd, 2024 at 5:51pm CST by Rory Maher

MARCH 2: The Lakers announced that they’ve signed Giles and waived Windler (Twitter link).

MARCH 1, 8:30pm: A team source tells ESPN’s Dave McMenamin that Windler will be released to make room for Giles, who will join the Lakers on Monday (Twitter link).

MARCH 1, 7:17pm: Free agent big man Harry Giles is signing a two-way contract with the Lakers, agent Daniel Hazan tells Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).

As Charania observes, the Lakers are a little thin in the frontcourt due to injuries to Christian Wood (knee swelling) and two-way center Colin Castleton (right wrist fracture). Castleton hasn’t been in the rotation as a rookie this season, but it’s possible he may have gotten a chance with Wood out.

L.A. currently has Castleton, Skylar Mays and Dylan Windler on two-way deals. One of them will have to be waived in order to make room on the roster for Giles.

A former first-round pick, Giles returned to the NBA in 2023/24 after missing two full seasons due to knee injuries. He signed a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary contract with the Nets, earning a spot on the team’s regular season roster and then having his full salary guaranteed when he remained on the roster through January 7.

Giles played sparingly in Brooklyn, appearing in 16 games and averaging just 5.1 minutes per night. He posted 3.4 points and 1.6 rebounds per game in his limited role.

The 25-year-old forward/center was a roster casualty last month, with the Nets waiving him to complete a trade before the deadline.

As our glossary entry on two-way contracts shows, in the 2023 CBA, the league and the players’ union agreed to implement what is informally known as the “Harry Giles rule.” Prior to signing with Brooklyn, Giles had been on an NBA roster for four seasons, but missed the entirety of his 2017/18 rookie year due to an injury, so he had only actually played in an NBA regular season game in three separate seasons.

The new rule allows Giles – and any other player who has four years of NBA service but missed one or more of those seasons due to an injury – to sign a two-way contract. That’s how Windler was able to sign two-way deals with the Knicks and Lakers as well.

Lakers Sign Dylan Windler To Two-Way Contract

January 7th, 2024 at 1:18pm CST by Luke Adams

JANUARY 7: Windler officially signed his two-way contract on Saturday, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

JANUARY 6: Veteran wing Dylan Windler, who had been playing in the G League, has agreed to sign a two-way contract with the Lakers, agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

A first-round pick in 2019, Windler signed a two-way contract with the Knicks in July following four seasons in Cleveland, then was converted to a standard non-guaranteed contract prior to the start of the regular season. He appeared in three games for the Knicks before being waived last month, before his 2023/24 salary became fully guaranteed.

Windler continued to play for the Westchester Knicks, New York’s G League affiliate, after being waived by the NBA team. He’s coming off a monster performance on Friday vs. the Delaware Blue Coats, as he put up 23 points to go along with a NBAGL-record 33 rebounds (11 offensive) in a loss.

For the season, he has averaged 13.8 PPG and 8.8 RPG on .443/.360/.714 shooting in 13 appearances for Westchester.

Players with four years of NBA service are typically ineligible for two-way contracts. However, Windler qualifies under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement due to a rule tweak that allows players who missed one of their four seasons as a result of an injury to retain their two-way eligibility — the former Belmont standout didn’t play at all as a rookie in 2019/20 due to a leg injury.

Assuming he officially signs his contract today, Windler will be eligible to appear in up to 29 games and will earn $321,714 on his two-way deal with the Lakers.

Los Angeles, meanwhile, has to waive one of its current two-way players to open up a spot for Windler. Colin Castleton, D’Moi Hodge, and Alex Fudge currently occupy those slots, and the Lakers intend to waive Fudge, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). He logged just 14 total minutes in four NBA appearances as a rookie out of Florida this season.