Stewart, McDaniels Watch Original NBA Draft Date Come and Go Without Them

Thursday, June 25, was supposed to be NBA draft day.

When we learned which teams wanted Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels the most.

Who saw long-term value in Stewart.

Which franchise was willing to take a chance on McDaniels.

By almost all accounts, these former University of Washington basketball players each were going to be taken somewhere in the first 30 picks.

And start making a good living.

Maybe each buy a new car.

Eventually show themselves to be much better pros than collegians.

Except the novel coronavirus pandemic got the way and postponed everything that was NBA-related — the season, playoffs, lottery and two draft rounds.

Now teams, players and fans will have to wait until at least October 16 to see where these two teenagers and everybody else lands. With a league start-up in the works, the draft has to wait until the games are played. Or not.

At this point, the high-motor Stewart appears to be inching up the draft order more and more while the cruise-control McDaniels is sliding down some. They're both in line for decent paydays and guaranteed opportunity.

In this mock draft example provided by Bleacher Report, Stewart goes to the Dallas Mavericks with the 18th selection and McDaniels ends up with the Brooklyn Nets at No. 20.

While Mark Cuban's hobby team and the Texas scenery might be interesting to Stewart, that NBA franchise just doesn't seem like a perfect fit for the 6-foot-9 power forward from Rochester, New York.

More analysts than not see Stewart playing for the Boston Celtics. This always has been sort of a blue-collar team since Bill Russell roamed the key and John Havlicek drove the lane, and this very determined big man seems a natural to pull on one of those kelly green uniforms. Stewart, as shown in the video, brings a Celtics-like approach to his game.

Here are a couple of media outlets who in recent months have made the case for Stewart playing in Boston.

Yet here is the most recent pitch for the muscular one playing at the Boston Garden and becoming a crowd favorite.

As for McDaniels, he's all over the map in linking to an NBA destination. Just like his game, which has ranged from really good to missing in action, he could go just about anywhere.

If there's a trend to McDaniels' mock draft positioning, the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that's always leaned to Northwest players (see Brandon Roy, Martell Webster, Will Conroy and Zach Lavine), seem to be the most frequent match projected for him.

Had the world not become infected this past winter, Stewart and McDaniels would have been celebrating on June 25, shaking hands with Adam Silver and pulling on team hats for photo ops.

Instead, they'll have to wait another another long four months before learning of their next basketball destination.

Which, in basketball parlance, seems like a lifetime.

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: HuskyMaven/Sports Illustrated

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Husky Maven. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.