Tre Johnson's Shooting Slump is Already Forcing Major Wizards Rotational Questions

Rookie year Tre Johnson was a sight to behold. 44.4% from the floor and 39.3% from 3-point distance on 5.5 nightly attempts from the other side of the arc looked exactly like what excited Washington Wizards fans had set their eventual expectations on outside of the 2025 NBA Draft: instant scoring, otherworldly confidence, near-limitless range from deep.

One issue: those weren't his cumulative rookie stats, with that sample size running through a sudden stop at the end of January. The skinny guard's availability came and went as the tanking campaign wound down, and his shooting numbers felt the brunt of the beatings he took against the rest of the physical NBA. He'd taken his medicine, and looked to attack his sophomore season with stronger versatility as a downhill scorer and two-way impact beyond the boundless jumper.

Tre Johnson (26 PTS) went to work on Day 1 of NBA Summer League 💪

The @WashWizards pick up the win over the Jazz! pic.twitter.com/eu8VflZ9Ef
— NBA (@NBA) July 10, 2026

He looked to be inching toward challenging the stacked starting lineup over inspiring NBA Summer League and preseason showings, but the floor-warping gravitational influence that the masses had hoped for has been nowhere to be found.

Actually, scratch that- he is bending defensive coverages, just not how we thought he would. With his accuracy having nosedived to 24.5% on similar volume, Johnson's now getting left wide open by opponents daring him to awaken from his shooting slump, and he's yet to punish those reactions after going 3/23 from the field and 0/13 on threes over his last two outings. An unthinkable situation for the lauded sniper, who just a year and a half led the SEC in scoring with nearly 20 points per game, to find himself mired in.

What's Johnson's Slow Start Meant for the Wizards

When the rookie's numbers teetered entering this past spring, there was no need for head coach Brian Keefe to overreact to any late-season swoons. The team was set on making the most of their draft capital more than anything else, perfectly happy to watch the prospects figure out how to adjust to the professional state of play with good old-fashioned reps.

But that was last year. That was before the organization made it clear that the teardown phase of the rebuild was over, evidenced in their acquisitions of win-now veterans such as Anthony Davis and Trae Young. Netting AJ Dybantsa to tip this most recent draft cycle off seemed to solidify the Wizards' updated talent roundup; now too presumably-deep with proven producers and up-and-comers, they were expected to actually focus on regularly-winning games for the first time in a few years.

Washington Wizards Guards Trae Young and Tre Johnson — Mar 8, 2026; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Washington Wizards guard Trae Young (3) celebrates with guard Tre Johnson (12) during the first half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Without Johnson to open up for the floor for other lineups that included the second-stringers, very few of Keefe's potential pivots seem like viable solutions to pick up for Johnson's slack.

There's Bub Carrington, another shooter who's gotten out to a much more fiery start as a spot-up option, though his volume and within-the-arc creativity lags well behind where we expected Johnson to be by this time. Bilal Coulibaly can't shoot, Deandre Ayton won't shoot and Will Riley's proven too raw to challenge for any present rotational opportunities. Justin Champagnie, the rare returning role player who's immediately impressed, is out for the next few months after fracturing his foot four games into the season.

Some insane Justin Champagnie numbers from Wednesday’s win:

Plus-minus: +17 (game high)
Offensive rating: 138.6 (game high)
Defensive rating: 102.3
Net rating: 36.3 (game high) pic.twitter.com/otPMHXxpQg
— Greg Finberg (@GregFinberg) October 22, 2026

So what's Keefe to do? He could switch up his minute patterns by swapping some of Johnson's and Carrington's minutes, with the third-year guard having settled into a ~19 minute-per-game balance despite better play-finishing numbers. Coulibaly's return from a brief injury spell, too, could provide a bit more flexibility with his defensive, above-the-rim-finishing punch, though this isn't a roster that's rife with other creative spark plug scorers. Khris Middleton looking closer to last season's production levels would really help at a time like this.

Washington Wizards Guard Bilal Coulibaly — Nov 6, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) shoots against the Atlanta Hawks in the first quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Outside of the panicked shuffling through other reserves, there's always the break-glass-in-case-of-emergency move to send Johnson across town to the Capital City Go-Go, where he can focus on putting up and cashing shots in a lower-stakes environment to get his mental back on track.

In all likelihood, Keefe will avoid doing anything too drastic in continuing to force-feeding the media's preseason pick for the likeliest shooter of the bunch to lead the squad in long-range success, especially provided the lack of tasty alternatives. It's not as if they can drum up any easier looks from deep- these are uncontested practice shots from the corners that he's bricking.

Until he, or they, find an answer, don't expect the Wizards to escape their places at the bottom of the NBA's 3-point attempt and conversion rate leaderboards.

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