It took a little longer than he had hoped, but Duke's Isaiah Evans found his landing spot in the NBA draft.
The sophomore guard is heading to Minnesota, the move coming after the Brooklyn Nets selected Evans at No. 33 overall in Wednesday night's second round with a pick that will be shipped to the Timberwolves as part of a pre-draft trade.
The 6-foot-6, 186-pound Evans had a seat in the green room through Tuesday's first round but ultimately spent a difficult night without hearing his name called by league commissioner Adam Silver to join him on stage in New York.
Evans wasn't among the list of attending prospects released by the NBA for Round 2.
Evans worked as an off-the-ball floor spacer with the ability to heat up from outside in a hurry while shooting 38% from behind the arc through two seasons. And he was considered a possible first-round prospect even before he elevated his game as a full-time starter in his sophomore season. The most pressing concern about him was the need to add strength to a slim frame to handle the physical play at the next level.
While falling out of the first round was surely a disappointment, Evans won't have to look far for inspiration when it comes to second-round picks who have gone on to NBA success. There's a long line of stories, like that of Denver Nuggets star and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, who arrived in the league as the No. 41 overall pick in 2014.
Or, there's New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, who earlier this month led the franchise to its first championship since 1973.
His draft spot? Same as Evans, No. 33 overall in 2018.
The wait until Wednesday night wasn't as bad for players who weren't expecting to be selected on the first night or understood patience, something Meleek Thomas said he learned playing for John Calipari at Arkansas.
"The most important lesson I learned from Coach Cal this year was: Your time is coming. Don't worry about when. Don't worry about how," said Thomas, who was selected by Sacramento with the No. 34 pick and dealt to Cleveland.
German guard Jack Kayil, whose rights were acquired by the Knicks with the No. 39 pick, not surprisingly named Brunson as the player he was hoping to learn from.
"We play kind of in a similar position," Kayil said. "We are also in kind of the same position of the draft. He was also second round. So I think I can learn a lot of stuff, how he started getting into the NBA, into the league, getting in touch with that."
The Knicks also acquired the rights to Tyler Nickel, the No. 47 pick from Vanderbilt, with their moves.
Among the other well-known names taken in the second round were BYU's Richie Saunders, who was selected at No. 32 by Memphis; Purdue's Braden Smith, the NCAA's career assists leader who was taken at No. 38 with a pick belonging to Indiana; Kentucky's Otega Oweh, with the No. 41 pick acquired by Oklahoma City; and Houston's Emanuel Sharp at No. 45 to Sacramento.
The Wizards, who had the first overall pick in the draft, also had the 60th and final selection but dealt it to Milwaukee. The Bucks took Malique Lewis, a forward from Trinidad and Tobago who was playing most recently in Australia.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.