Two things happened in last night's NBA Draft most of us expected: 1) Klay Thompson heard his name called early, and 2) DeAngelo Casto did not. Not early, not late ... not anything.
An interesting part of this is that our expectations about Casto might have been a little off base; Vince Grippi is reporting this morning that Ken Bone had received enough inquiries about the undersized center that the coach thought there might have been a chance Casto would hear his name late.
But he didn't, thanks to a run of foreign guys you've never heard of and whose names you can't pronounce, and now he's sort of left twisting in the wind.
Normally, Casto's agent would be burning up the phones today, looking for an NBA rookie free agent deal that would allow Casto to compete on somebody's summer league team. In a lot of ways, it's sometimes better to be a free agent than a second round pick because there's some freedom -- Casto likely would be able to pick the best option from a number of alternatives.
This year is different. The NBA collective bargaining agreement expires in a week, and it's unlikely a new deal gets hammered out between now and then. No rookies will be signed until the two sides come to an agreement, and there are indications it could be a real long time before that happens.
So, Casto is left with a choice. He can either continue to keep himself in shape and wait it out, or he can try to catch on with a team outside of the country. Given his stated reason for turning pro in the first place -- to provide for his girlfriend and young child -- we can assume that in seven days, when the NBA and its players association allow its deal to lapse without an agreement and a lockout is instituted, Casto will be vigorously exploring his overseas options.
Whatever happens, it's going to be a grind for him. But Casto's a survivor, and I look forward to seeing how he gets his career underway.