KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Vols made history at the NBA Draft Thursday night with three players selected in the first two rounds for the first time in program history. Grant Williams, Admiral Schofield and Jordan Bone were all drafted.
Grant Williams was picked by the Boston Celtics with the 22nd overall pick in the first round. He's the first Vol taken in the first round since Tobias Harris in 2011.
Admiral Schofield was picked by the Philadelphia 76ers at number 42 overall in the second round and Philly has a proposed trade set up with the Wizards to send Schofield to Washington. He joins former Vol Jordan McRae, who averaged 5.9 points per game in 27 games off the bench for the Wizards in the 2018-19 season.
Bone was taken with the 57th ovearall pick in the second round. New Orleans made the selection but a proposed trade was set to send Bone to the Atlanta Hawks. However, Detroit acquired the rights to Bone from Atlanta, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Williams is the fourth Vol all-time to be drafted by the Celtics, including Tennessee's first ever NBA draft pick, Marshall Hawkins in 1948. He is set to make at least $3.2 million in guaranteed money for his first two years in the league.
Kyle Alexander has been working out for NBA teams too and was not drafted but he will most likely sign with a team as an undrafted free agent or at least be invited to play in the Summer League and have a chance to work his way into a contract.
This is the third time the Vols have had three players picked in the same draft, here are the other two times:
1977 - Bernard King (1st round), Ernie Grunfeld (1st ), Mike Jackson (7th)
1950 - Art Burris (3rd round), Ed Jones (7th), Ed "Britches" Montgomery (12th)
The NBA Draft was shortened to two rounds in 1989 and the Vols had never had more than two players picked in the first two rounds of the draft until 2019.
The modern draft consists of two rounds with a total of 60 picks.
None of the former Vols were invited to sit in the green room at the draft in New York.
Contracts for first round draft picks are guaranteed for the first two years with team options for the third and fourth years. The 30th overall pick will make at least $2.6 million in total guaranteed money for the first two years on his contract.
Second round contracts are not required to be guaranteed but last year 19 of the 30 second round picks signed an NBA deal with at least one year guaranteed for at least $1 million per year. As for the remaining second rounders, four went to play overseas, four signed two-way contracts (playing in the G-League with a chance to come up to the NBA for a maximum of 45 days), two signed G-League contracts and one signed a one-year non-guaranteed NBA deal.
The last Vol selected in the NBA Draft prior to 2019 was Josh Richardson in 2015 (40th overall - Miami Heat). Tennessee has now had 49 players selected in the history of the draft including nine first rounders.