Tennessee basketball: Jordan Bone leaving is expected but devastating for Vols

Tennessee basketball is losing Jordan Bone to the NBA Draft. That’s something that could have been expected, but it’s still devastating for the Volunteers.

Well, at least there’s more room for incoming five-star guard Josiah James in the rotation. But after just missing out on the Elite Eight, Tennessee basketball still had reason for excitement over next year even if they lost some talent.

There’s the off-chance that Grant Williams returns for his senior season. If he does, DJ Burns could theoretically replace Kyle Alexander. With enough development in the summer, Yves Pons could somewhat offset the loss of Admiral Schofield. And all three guards in the rotation could return.

Even if one left, it would be fine with the arrival of James. However, the one player at guard Tennessee basketball could not afford to lose in the backcourt, they lost. We’re talking, of course, about Jordan Bone.

The Vols only had two guys who could really run the point last year in Bone and Lamonte Turner. Turner is more of a combo guard, which James is too. Jordan Bowden is solely a two-guard. But Bone was their only true point guard.

On Wednesday, news broke that he is entering and staying in the NBA Draft. Here’s the thing: we all expected this. Bone was consistently considered the best NBA prospect for the Vols given the fact that he is a 6’3″ point guard who is athletic, has amazing vision and is a great shooter when left alone. That’s exactly the type of point guard who thrives in the pros.

But the loss of Bone is still devastating. Rick Barnes has no true point guard coming back last year, and that means even if the rest of the team returns, the season could be a huge loss. How critical is solid point guard play?

Well, the 2007-2008 Vols remain the greatest team in school history. But lack of point guard play bounced them out in the Sweet 16 because they couldn’t beat any elite team if one of their guards wasn’t red hot from outside.

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Tennessee basketball could have afforded to lose Bowden or Turner. But losing Bone makes Barnes’s job that much harder this offseason. The only thing that will make this harder is if Williams truly leaves.

Then you have the only distributor and the go-to scorer from this year’s team both gone. Sorry, but even with a five-star combo guard coming in, there’s no way possible to replace that production. Tennessee basketball desperately needs to hope Williams comes back, and he actually does have some reason to come back.

If he does, Barnes can focus on finding a point guard in the transfer portal to plug in quickly, and the team could still be great next year, maybe even better. But his departure will force Barnes to look in the transfer portal for two elite players who can start immediately, and that’s going to be rough.

Even if Turner or Bowden leaves, it won’t matter that much. James is going to replace one of them. The Vols just need immediate help from a true point guard, and Bone leaving forces Barnes to look for an extra player in the transfer portal. Again, Vols fans should have expected this after promoting Bone all year as an NBA prospect. But it still hurts them dramatically.