Isaiah Evans spent more than three hours waiting around the NBA draft green room—sunglasses on toward the end to help shield his emotion from the cameras, waiting for Adam Silver to call his name in the first round. The call never came.
The former Duke star became one of three college players with eligibility remaining who missed out on being first round picks Tuesday night, along with North Carolina big Henri Veesaar and Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas. All three will likely be selected very early in the second round Wednesday, but that one-day delay in officially joining the NBA ranks can be costly: If they sign for the rookie minimum, as expected, they will make $1.36 million in their first season, rather than the nearly $3 million slotted for the last pick of the first round. Falling to the second also means less long-term security: First rounders get four-year deals with the first two years guaranteed, while second-rounders sometimes get shorter deals with fewer guarantees.
