Fansided

Tennessee basketball: Starting lineup options for 2019-2020

By Mike Phillips

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 24: Luka Garza #55 of the Iowa Hawkeyes fights for a rebound against Jordan Bowden #23 and Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament held at Nationwide Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 24: Luka Garza #55 of the Iowa Hawkeyes fights for a rebound against Jordan Bowden #23 and Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament held at Nationwide Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /
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COLUMBUS, OHIO – MARCH 22: Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts during the first half against the Colgate Raiders in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OHIO – MARCH 22: Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts during the first half against the Colgate Raiders in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Best-case scenario

  • Point Guard: Jordan Bone
  • Shooting Guard: Lamonte Turner
  • Small Forward: Jordan Bowden
  • Power Forward: Grant Williams
  • Center: John Fulkerson

This would be the absolute dream scenario for Tennessee. Even though both Bone and Williams test the waters for the NBA Draft, they decide to come back to Knoxville to try and take care of unfinished business.

Of the two, Williams is most likely to stay in the draft, with his potential in mock drafts usually sitting around the bottom third of the first round. This scenario would see Williams decide to stay in school for his senior year to boost his draft stock and try to ensure he is a first round pick in 2020, ensuring a guaranteed contract.

Bone’s return is also nice because it stabilizes the point, allowing the pair to team up with returnees Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner to put together a potentially explosive offense for Tennessee. Turner was a starter last season while Bowden would enter the lineup in place of the graduating Schofield.

Replacing Kyle Alexander is the tougher task, but at the moment we are projecting it goes to rising junior John Fulkerson. He was an efficient scorer in limited action last season, shooting 58.3 percent from the field in 12 minutes of action a night, and he would be expected to play a solid complementary role in this offense.