Tennessee basketball: Vols F Grant Williams invited to 2019 NBA combine

Tennessee basketball forward Grant Williams is joining Jordan Bone. The Volunteers rising senior is testing the NBA Draft and was invited to the combine.

Admiral Schofield and Kyle Alexander are both gone, and it now looks like Tennessee basketball could definitely lose its two early potential departures. Grant Williams and Jordan Bone both announced earlier this year they’d test the NBA Draft Waters.

Now, the rising Vols seniors have been invited to the NBA combine. Bone announced his invite on Friday, which we covered here. UT’s glue guy the last three years, it’s key point guard, has great awareness and a good jump shot to go with solid athleticism, so this made sense.

But Williams is now also headed to the combine. Tennessee basketball’s go-to scorer the past three years and its best player, Williams is an elite scorer who uses his width at 6’7″ 236 pounds along with his awareness and elite free throw shooting to dominate. He made his announcement on Twitter as well.

While Bone made more sense with his invite because of his position, Williams is a bit more of a question. After all, like we said, he’s only 6’7″, and he plays power forward. He also isn’t known for a ton of athleticism, so there’s a real debate in the NBA if he could make it as a power forward.

Williams may not be big enough to be even a reserve forward in a half-court offense, but he may not be athletic enough to play in an up-tempo system. However, there could still be a role for him to be very effective, and that’s probably what scouts want to see.

The combine is scheduled to last from Wednesday, May 15 through Sunday, May 19. Just like Bone, Williams has until May 29 to withdraw his name from NBA Draft consideration. Both players are nearly irreplaceable for Tennessee basketball, so Vols fans would be lucky to have them both back, but that’s not likely. The combine will give a better analysis of where they stand.