The green room at the NBA Draft is supposed to be a victory lap. You get the invite, you sit up front, you shake Adam Silver’s hand somewhere in the lottery or the late first round. But for Isaiah Evans, the experience turned into an awkward wait that stretched well past the first 30 picks.
The Duke wing had to sit there while name after name got called. Not his. Eventually the cameras found him anyway, and the internet did what the internet does. But by the time the second round rolled around, the Minnesota Timberwolves had something to offer.
They took Evans at No. 33 overall. And the kid who looked like he might slide out of the draft entirely ended up with a team that genuinely needs what he brings.
What the Timberwolves are getting in Isaiah Evans
Evans is a 3-and-D wing, which is the kind of player that every team claims they want and then half of them can’t actually develop. But the Wolves have a decent track record here. They’ve shown they can plug shooters into their system and let them play off of Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels.
Evans shot 36.5 percent from three at Duke in a rotational role. That’s not elite volume but the mechanics are clean and the release is quick. Defensively he’s long enough to bother shots on the wing and smart enough to rotate on time. He’s not going to create his own shot at the NBA level right away. But the Wolves don’t need him to. They need someone who can stand in the corner, hit an open look, and not get cooked on the other end.
There’s a real chance he cracks the rotation as a rookie. Minnesota’s bench scoring was inconsistent last season and they don’t have a crowded wing depth chart behind McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Evans could carve out minutes early simply by being reliable.
The green room embarrassment was real
Let’s be honest — getting the green room invite and then watching the entire first round go by without your name is brutal. It’s happened before to guys who turned out fine. But in the moment, the cameras catch every reaction and the broadcast analysts start reaching for explanations. Evans handled it about as well as you could expect. He stayed composed, kept clapping for other picks, and let the moment pass.
The Timberwolves made a small trade to move up and get him at 33. It wasn’t a blockbuster deal. Just a move to make sure nobody else jumped them. That kind of intentionality matters to a player who just spent four hours wondering if he’d made a mistake by declaring.
Evans will have a chip on his shoulder now. That’s usually a good thing for a second-round pick. The Wolves got a kid who’s been doubted, tested, and still believes he belongs. We’ll see if he turns that into minutes when the actual games start.
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