May 2, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors small forward Harrison Barnes (40) dunks against the Denver Nuggets during the first quarter of game six of the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Nuggets 92-88. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Coming out of college, teams knew what they were getting with Harrison Barnes. He was a big-bodied small forward who had a good outside shot and good athleticism. He wasn’t a flashy player at the University of North Carolina, but he was a player you could rely on offensively and defensively. And that is exactly what he gave you all season for the Golden State Warriors; he averaged 9.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. But on the big stage of the playoffs he amplified his game, averaging 16.1 points. The Warriors were a surprise team this season, upsetting the Denver Nuggets in the first round and taking the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs to six games in the second round.

During his team’s elimination game, Barnes was victim to a hard fall after contesting a layup attempt by the Spurs’ Boris Diaw. Barnes wasn’t able to brace his fall and smacked his head on the court. He departed from the game with a minute left in the first half after he was bleeding from the right side of his head. He returned to start the third quarter but did not return in the fourth quarter after headache-like symptoms. It was an unfortunate ending to a great rookie postseason he put together.

With Barnes’ post-season success, it has left Cavs fans upset with what we passed on in the draft. Almost a year ago – after the NBA Draft Lottery was complete – it was almost a sure thing Barnes was going to be on the board for the Cavs, and they were going to select him. Well, only half of that is correct. He was on the board, but the Cavs passed on him for Syracuse guard Dion Waiters. It was a little bit of a shock at first when general manager Chris Grant passed on Barnes and selected Waiters, but when Waiters laced up for his NBA game to play against the Washington Wizards and Bradley Beal – who was selected one pick before Waiters – Cleveland fans were excited about the player they got and saw a bright future for this new dynamic backcourt the Cavaliers have. Waiters finished the regular season averaging 14.2 points – second among rookies – only behind Portland’s Rookie of the Year Damian Lillard (19.0 PPG).

But with Waiters’ offseason starting a month sooner than Barnes’, Barnes had been playing on a bigger stage with more eyes on him. When the playoffs begin, each teams’ bench shortens up and starters carry additional minutes. In the regular season Barnes averaged 25.4 minutes. In the postseason he averaged 38.4 minutes, contributing to his rise in points.

While Waiters has been idle, Cleveland fans have been salivating over Barnes in the post season and second guessing Grant’s decision to pass on the UNC product. These two will forever be compared to each other – as well as Beal – and they have the 2012 draft to thank for that. Waiters finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting with 21 total votes, followed by Barnes who finished sixth with eight votes. Beal, Anthony Davis and Andre Drummond – who all averaged fewer points than Waiters – finished above him in ROY voting.

Barnes has been playing like a crafty veteran throughout his teams’ playoffs run and was a key contributor to Golden State’s success behind the lights out shooting from Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. However, if you are ready to determine if Barnes was a better pick than Waiters, well then you must be the smartest person in the world. But that wouldn’t be fair to Waiters. It’s similar to comparing Kyrie Irving and Derrick Rose. Rose is injured and hasn’t played in a year, so you can’t determine who’s better now. You can compare the stats and see if anything sticks out, but it’s impossible to know if one is better than the other – right now.

And if you compare the Barnes’ playoff numbers with Waiters’ regular season numbers, there isn’t a significant difference. Barnes played an additional 10 minutes a game than Waiters did in the regular season and only scored 1.4 points more per game. With that said, don’t you think with Barnes playing over 38 minutes, he should probably average more than 16.1 points? Because Waiters would, his stats prove it.  These two were drafted in two different situations. Waiters is relied on to produce on offense and take more shots – which is what he did at Syracuse. Barnes is more of a role player to Curry and Thompson – a role that has made him fit in immediately.

This is only the first season of many that these two – who came out in a stacked draft class – will be compared to each other, and leaving Cavs fans saying “what if”.  Unlike Waiters, Barnes was drafted to a team that was ready for the playoffs. His skills were on display in the playoffs, while Waiters watched the games at home. Waiters will get his chance, eventually, and when his opportunity does come, Waiters will perform just as good, if not better, than Barnes.

Dec 18, 2012; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao (17) reacts after falling after a foul by Toronto Raptors power forward Amir Johnson (not pictured) in the second quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Since I’ve come home to Brunswick, Ohio for the summer after completing my freshman year of college, my life has become fairly simple. I go to work at a local grocery store, spend time with family and friends, etc. At night, with my phone tucked away and the lights off in my room, I turn on my Xbox and put in NBA 2K13. The Jay-Z produced game has been out for months now, but due to being busy in Athens, I hadn’t really had time to devote to playing extensively. But with my schedule opened up, I’ve become addicted.

The stock version of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the game is the roster currently in tact. Kyrie Irving is the best player (obviously) and the supporting cast still consists of Dion Waiters, Anderson Varejao and the like. And like the real world Wine and Gold, this team isn’t very good. If you SIM through a season of Cavaliers basketball in Association mode (where you control every aspect of your selected franchise), the Cavs finish near the bottom of the league every time – which is where they finished in real life.

That in itself says a lot about the state of the Cavaliers. Video games – especially high quality sports games like 2K13 – tend to be realistic as possible. Real world factors like the Cavaliers’ well-chronicled injury problems don’t exist in the virtual world. Injuries do happen in the game (namely Varejao missing a large portion of the season), but they weren’t as prevalent as they were on the real shores of Lake Erie.

Maybe I’m reading into this too much, but I think this provides an applicable lesson to Cavaliers fans. That lesson is this: the Cavaliers injuries last season (fingers crossed here) were a one-time, season-long horror story. Unless the basketball gods truly have it out for Cleveland, then maybe Kyrie won’t punch a wall and break his hand before the season even begins. And maybe – just maybe – we won’t see over half the team in masks before the All-Star break.

The other notable lesson to come out my 2K13 experience (other than that there is a snowball’s chance in hell that LeBron James will return to Cleveland) is that, given the proper time, the Cavaliers young talent (namely the seemingly always infuriating Waiters and Zeller) will develop and become the key pieces a lot of people thought they could be when they were selected in the draft. Cleveland fans (and understandably so) want results now. I am one of them, and I can tell you that it’s hard being told by every (and I mean EVERY) front office in the city that they are rebuilding and that contending for titles will come in a few years. It’s hard to hear that talent selected by the front office is going to take time to develop and won’t provide any immediate feedback. I get that 100 percent, and it is frustrating to listen to the same speeches over and over again. But in the grand scheme of things, it is a better way to build.

Take a look back at the James-era Cavaliers teams. In a hasty rush to win and contend for a title, the front office spent money on role players and made risky trades in order to find talent to compliment LeBron. And while they did reach the Finals, that 2007 Cavaliers team was swept by the Spurs. When LeBron left two summers later, the Cavaliers team that had been at the top of the East for years suddenly ended up at the bottom of the league.

That should tell you that taking it slow and letting young talent grow is the right way to build a team. Can a splashy free agent signing help a team? Absolutely yes. But it can’t be the whole strategy.

That brings me back to Waiters and Zeller. They just completed their rookie seasons and deserve the time to grow just like their teammate Tristan Thompson did. If one or both of those players makes the strides Thompson did this past season, then I guarantee the hate they receive now will turn into love. And for what it’s worth, both of those players developed nicely in 2K13 and became real pieces for a Cavaliers team that won the division.

And so, while it’s not real life, maybe Cavaliers fans should take a cue from the video game and take a realistic look at the big picture. If the Cavaliers can be a good team there, then maybe they can succeed in real life too.

Oct 30, 2012; Cleveland, OH, USA; Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal (3, right) shoots over Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Dion Waiters (3, left) in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to the fortieth installment of Right Down Euclid’s “Weekly Roundtable.” This Friday Jerry Bulone and Zak Kolesar sit down and discuss the latest trending topics concerning your Cleveland Cavaliers and the NBA. The combination of rotating RDE duos answer three questions regarding the hometown Wine and Gold and two questions surrounding the league.

Today the discussion revolves around free agent wishes, Dion Waiters’ place in the Rookie of the Year voting, Trevor Magnotti’s draft profiles, the recent play of the Memphis Grizzlies and the Golden State Warriors and Derrick Roses’ absence in the 2012-13 season.

Cavaliers Corner

First Question: Is there a free agent that you have on the top of your wish list for the Cavaliers?

Jerry Bulone: To be honest, not really. I guess I am just used to how the Cavaliers (and my beloved Packers) run things. You build through the draft and supplement with a free agent here and there. It is a time-tested strategy that if done right will produce amazing results. That being said, the Cavs No. 1 priority needs to be replacing Gee at small forward. He is a nice player, but no starter. He is much better suited for the bench. I think our future starter is much more likely to come from the draft however.

Zak Kolesar: I couldn’t agree with you more, Jerry. Small forward would be my targeted position in free agency, as we are not sure if we will land Otto Porter in the draft or retain C.J. Miles for the 2013-14 season. With the Houston Rockets in the predicament of having two of their small forwards – Chandler Parsons (whom I love) and Carlos Delfino – lost to free agency, I think either of those two would be tremendous additions. I don’t think the Rockets will depart with Parsons unfortunately, but that would mean Delfino will be let go. He’s not a starter in this league, but would add depth to a team struggling to find someone who can produce with starter minutes. The draft is the way to go with this position, but pulling an upset and landing Parsons would give us a starter, and Delfino would help greatly off the bench.

Second Question: Do you think Dion placed at a fair position in the Rookie of the Year voting?

JB: No. I am sorry, but Bradley Beal? Waiters had more points per game, assists per game, steals per game and played less minutes then Beal. He also shot the ball slightly better from the field. So what are we basing this voting on. It obviously isn’t stats – typical.

ZK: If it wasn’t fifth, it was going to be fourth. I’m on your side with this one again, Jerry. I thought a lot of what Beal did this season was a product of him being on the court next to John Wall. Once Wall returned to action, we saw Beal’s statistics skyrocket. They both played around the same amount of games, so putting their stats next to each other seems like a fair way of arguing who should have finished higher. The thing is, Beal didn’t even finish fourth. Out of that rookie group, I think that Andre Drummond will have the best overall career (not taking away anything from Damian Lillard or Anthony Davis), and he was the one who finished fourth. It was not fair, however, that Dion scored 73 fewer points than Beal in the voting.

Third Question: Which one of Trevor’s draft profiles has had you the most convinced on a player?

JB: It’s got to be the kid from Georgetown, Otto Porter. As I stated above, the Cavs main priority is to get Gee back to the bench where he can thrive in the role he is most comfortable in. Porter has all the skills that Gee does not. He is more athletic and is another slasher type that will fit great with Waiters and Irving. He does need to improve his shooting technique, but he will fit great with Mike Brown’s defense.

ZK: I thought his most convincing argument came in his Gorgui Dieng profile. I think he would thrive in the John Kuester offence that I described in this post as the big man in the rotation. He’s athletic, which would help with the pick-and-roll aspect of Cleveland’s offense. Also, he would provide a blocking aspect to a team that ranked 29^th in the league in that category.

NBA Roundup

Fourth Question: How far do you think Golden State will go and are you a believer in the Grizzlies?

JB: I am a believer in the Grizz. They are going against an undermanned OKC team without Westbrook. I like their chances. Conley and Gasol are good solid players, and Randolph is playing like a stud. How good is a team that can trade three players from their bench – one of them being arguably one of their best players – and still have a chance to go to the Western Conference Finals? As for the Warriors of Golden State, their journey will end with San Antonio. The Spurs (unlike the Nuggets) are the real deal. They have seen these “flash in the pan” offenses before and should slow Golden State down. Parker, the NBA’s most underrated point guard, will outplay the way overhyped Curry and, most likely it will be a wrap by Game 5 or 6.

ZK: When I watched Randolph bear wrestle Blake Griffin on the floor in Game 6, I decided that I would roll with the Grizzlies the rest of the way. With Westbrook out I don’t think that this puts the Thunder far away from making it back to the Finals, but Memphis would be the team that I want to see more of as the playoffs progress. Their energy goes unmatched against any other team in the Western Conference, and they have the best defense left in the playoffs. Both of those categories match two things that I look for when picking teams to go far in the postseason. I tend to disagree with you regarding the Warriors, though. Golden State won’t lose on the road in this series, and we will continue to see the evolution of Stephen Curry. I don’t think he’s overhyped. This is his legend-in-the-making postseason. There’s still more tape left in this film, too.

Fifth Question: If the Bulls advance, would you like to see D. Rose in the playoffs or is there no chance?

JB: I have no respect for Derrick Rose. The man has been 100 percent and a “full go” at practice for what seems like months. The Bulls are playing their butts off and their supposed “leader” isn’t mentally ready to return yet. If you can find a Vegas bookie dumb enough, take every red cent you own and bet it on Rose not playing a minute this year. He is that type of guy. It’s all about him, never mind that his team is fighting (and winning) and has a chance to go to the Eastern Conference Finals. Glad no one like that plays for the Cavs.

ZK: Pretty much. Same with guys like Kirk Heinrich and Luol Deng. Randolph has the right attitude. He knows that the team he is playing on now may not have a better chance to win than now. Rose knows that he will be in Chicago for sometime (UFA in 2017), so the need to win is not imminent, which is sad. The need to win should always be highest in the present, and that means that three of their most important players should be giving their best shot at playing on the court for a series against the Finals favorite Miami Heat. Chicago needs their scorers this series, and it looks like few want to step up.

Make sure to check back next week to see what Jerry Bulone and Chris Manning have to debate at the “Weekly Roundtable.”