Tennessee basketball: Grant Williams is gone, but Vols could be fine

Tennessee basketball junior forward Grant Williams announced that he is staying in the NBA Draft. However, the Volunteers could still be okay in 2019-2020.

After three years as the main scorer for Tennessee basketball, Grant Williams has decided to stay in the NBA Draft. He thanked UT fans in a video publicizing his decision. However, the only real surprise was the timing of the announcement.

Williams has been spending this week at the NBA Combine, and reports earlier were that he would announce his decision Saturday. However, after numerous mock drafts having him as a first-rounder, it made sense for him to go ahead and decide.

The two-time SEC Player of the Year and Consensus First Team All-American made his announcement in a sit-down exclusive interview with Stadium. Lead Writer Shams Charania tweeted out the video of Williams’s decision.

So where does Tennessee basketball go from here? Well, believe it or not, they aren’t in as bad of shape as you might think. Sure, with the expectation that Jordan Bone will stay in the draft and the graduations of Admiral Schofield and Kyle Alexander, they will have lost four of their starters.

However, Lamonte Turner, when he is playing smart and patient, is arguably the best scorer on the team. Jordan Bowden can get red-hot at anytime. Putting those two in the starting lineup together along with the addition of five-star combo guard Josiah James actually sets up the back court nicely for Rick Barnes next year.

Then there’s the post game. Derrick Walker’s transfer was a surprise, but Yves Pons is still there and has the potential to develop into an elite stretch-4 guy at the college level. John Fulkerson is still on the roster. And DJ Burns, a four-star power forward in the 2018 recruiting class, will be ready to go.

If the roster stays as is, Barnes could have a different team next year. He would have to play smaller and rely more on athleticism from his players. But that’s a system you can win with, and he has the players to do it.

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It’s not what they had last year, but Tennessee basketball has some solid talent among these guys. And then there’s another factor at work here: graduate transfers. The Vols are clearly targeting some, and they are in the running for Virginia Tech Hokies transfer Kerry Blackshear if he decides to come back to college.

Blackshear is a 6’10” 250-pound forward who averaged 14.9 points and seven and a half rebounds this past year. He could immediately come in and take over the starting center position, and Burns or Pons could have that power forward spot. All of a sudden, Barnes has replaced a lot of his production from last year if that happens.

Now, this is not a lineup that will win you a national championship. And depth could still end up being an issue. But Barnes keeping the program at the level it has reached after losing so much is the main concern. And yes, he may end up having enough to do just that.

As a result, don’t panic over Williams’s decision yet. And don’t panic when Bone almost certainly makes the same decision. Barnes has plenty of talent to work with heading into next year, even if he has to change up his system a bit. Tennessee basketball may have to run a bit more fast-paced instead of playing inside-out. But in the end, they should be okay.