Tennessee basketball: Starting lineup options for 2019-2020

Worst-case scenario

• Point Guard: Josiah James
• Shooting Guard: Lamonte Turner
• Small Forward: Jordan Bowden
• Power Forward: Drew Pember
• Center: John Fulkerson

This scenario would, without a doubt, be the worst case for Barnes and the Volunteers. Not only does Grant Williams stay in the draft and go pro, but Bone does as well, leaving Tennessee without its three top scorers from a year ago.

A lot of the scoring load would fall on Turner, the lone returning starter here, and Jordan Bowden. Those two would have to serve as leaders on this team and help out freshman Josiah James, who would take over for Bone at the point.

The five spot still belongs to Fulkerson, who would also need to step up and handle more responsibility on the offensive end. The Volunteers would still need to fill a hold at the four, with the best candidate to fill that opening being incoming freshman Drew Pember.

Pember, a four-star power forward from Knoxville, would get a chance to help out his hometown school right away. The Volunteers wouldn’t need a ton of scoring from Pember, but some timely contributions on offense and some solid defense would go a long way to helping Tennessee compete in the tough SEC.

This could also be a scenario where Tennessee explores the grad transfer market to add an impact forward. The best available big in the transfer portal is former Virginia Tech star Kerry Blackshear, who would give Tennessee an impact scorer and rebounder if he came to Knoxville.