Former Los Angeles Lakers forward (shortly) Dylan Windler has set his sights on his next professional basketball destination — and it’s not an NBA team.
According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHypeThe 6-foot-6 forward has signed a one-year deal with the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League of Australia.
Windler was first selected with the 26th overall pick out of Belmont in the 2019 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, and was an old rookie at age 24 after being essentially an injured redshirt in 2019 due to a leg injury.
As a free agent in 2023, Windler struggled to find a standard 15-man roster. He subsequently signed a two-way contract with the New York Knicks, impressing Knicks management enough to have his contract converted to a standard contract heading into the 2023–24 season. It didn’t last, however, as Windler was released in December, only to be signed by New York’s NBA G League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks.
He signed a two-way contract with the Lakers in January 2024 and was released in March. The Atlanta Hawks, his last NBA team to date, were his third and final team in 2023-24. They also signed him on a two-way contract.
In 101 NBA regular season games (he never appeared in a single playoff game), Windler averaged 3.2 points on a .425/.347/.800 shooting average, 2.1 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.4 swipes per night.
Last year, the 27-year-old played just eight games with the Lakers, averaging 1.5 points on 44.4 percent shooting and 50 percent from deep (1.0 three-point attempts per game) in just 3.5 minutes per game. In his three games with Los Angeles’ NBAGL team, the South Bay Lakers (all as a backup), Windler averaged 11.0 points on .393/.294/.750 shooting, 6.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.7 blocks per game.
Since its inception in 1982, Perth has become the NBL’s winningest franchise. The team has won 10 titles, four more than the next-closest club, Melbourne United, and its six championships. The Wildcats won their most recent title in 2020. Perth recently made the NBL Grand Finals in the 2022-23 season.
Windler will give the Wildcats some jump shooting potential this year as they look to develop their offense.
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