Memphis Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2021-22 season

Point Guard

Starter: Alex Lomax

By far the biggest positional concern for Memphis is at the point, where the only two pure point guards on the roster include Alex Lomax and incoming transfer Tyler Harris.

Lomax seems the most likely to benefit from Bates’ scoring prowess. The Tigers’ multitude of talented scorers on the wing need somebody who is a natural facilitator to get them the ball, and that’s where Lomax gets the edge.

Lomax started only four games last season, but he enters his senior year with 85 games played at Memphis under Hardaway. He is the most veteran presence on the roster and the most gifted passer on a team with a lack of ball-sharers.

Last season, Lomax averaged 6.0 points, 4.2 assists and 1.8 steals in 21.6 minutes per game. He shot 45% from the field and 35% from three on just under one attempt each contest. It’s reasonable to think he could replicate those numbers, and even improve his assist totals into the 6-7 per game range if he earns 25+ minutes per night.

Bench: Tyler Harris, Emoni Bates (!!!)

Harris returns to Memphis, where he played the first two seasons of his career before transferring last year to play one season at Iowa State. Harris is an extremely undersized, inefficient score-first guard.

Memphis’ lack of options at the point will force him into the rotation, but if the Tigers’ season is a successful one, it’s likely Harris takes a back seat. With career averages of 36% shooting from the floor and more turnovers than assists per game, there’s not a lot he brings to the floor that the Tigers couldn’t find from someone bigger or more efficient.

There is one extremely fun other option at point guard, and that would be Emoni Bates. Bates has mentioned publicly that part of what appealed to him about Memphis was playing the same position that Penny Hardaway did.

While Bates may view himself as a point guard, the tape on him says otherwise. He’s one of the most gifted shot creators at the high school level in recent memory, but an Emoni Experiment at point guard likely wouldn’t result in much except for lots of bad shots and some eye rolls from teammates.

That said, I expect Hardaway to play with lineups in a variety of ways. There will be many times next season that Lomax and Harris are both on the bench, and whether it is a point guard by committee approach or The Emoni Experiment comes to fruition, it will be must-see TV from start to finish.