Tre Johnson Can Introduce Professional Scoring to Wizards

No one Washington Wizards fan can be sure of the pick the team will land in this upcoming NBA Draft until next Monday's lottery drawing, but we can be sure of this: these Wizards were one of the losing-est squads in the league.

Their 18-64 record resulted in more than a few tough watches, with their young draftees making some positive strides along the season to provide the front office with some longer-term wins. That record, just one game better than the Utah Jazz's NBA-low 17 wins, locked the Wizards in for a tie at the best odds to get the #1 pick along with the guarentee that they can fall no further than #6.

That second detail is arguable more important than the top pick odds. As tantalizing a draft prize as Cooper Flagg looks to be, there's other talent to get excited about at the high end of the lottery.

Several scorers line the top end of many mock drafts, offering several variations of the kind of trait just about every NBA player has to demonstrate. We see a few archetypes right toward the top with the versatile, feel-first Flagg, Dylan Harper's combination of shooting and slashing, and his Rutgers teammate, the quick-triggered Ace Bailey's ability to knock down a jumper anywhere on the court.

Of all of those options at a bucket, few prospects looked as polished a bucket-getter as Texas' Tre Johnson, another potential top-five pick to look out for in the summer.

His game starts with his jump shot, an instance of mechanical mastery that will require no tweaks to convert to the next level. He's comfortable pulling up and shooting off the catch, combining off-ball shiftiness with the IQ to successfully pin down mismatches and uneasy defenders in creating his own looks out of structure.

Tre Johnson in his Final college game vs Xavier in the First Four.

23 PTS (6-14 FG, 4-7 3PT, 7-11 FTs)
6 REB
2 AST

Great College career.. now on to the NBA.. He is top 3 on my Draft Board!!! pic.twitter.com/cUuVhI1ZdW
— Frankie Vision (@Frankie_Vision) March 20, 2025

Johnson's on-ball impact goes beyond bucket hunting, with his proficiency as a pick-and-roll conductor going undermentioned in many pre-draft profiles.

He's a willing and timely passer, transitioning that eye for his own shots into figuring out how to get his teammates going when the moment fits. The freshman commanded a lot of attention in the Texas offense in averaging an SEC-high 19.9 points, routinely punishing some of the better defenders in the NCAA's best basketball conference with a game that goes deeper than your average pure scorer.

Tre Johnson — P&R playmaking + scoring tape

An elite multi-level shotmaking/scoring talent that leverages his gravity with high-level spatial awareness and understanding of screens. A much better passer than given credit for (1.5 AST/TO + 16.5% AST).

#6 on my ‘25 board. https://t.co/YmUJXKmt1N pic.twitter.com/d2uXvGFujb
— Mohamed (@mcfdraft) April 24, 2025

He's had some moments as a technically-sound defender, but nothing that'll dramatically elevate his draft stock. At the very least, he's 6'6, potentially offering the effort and length to fit into Washington's defensive system.

He's not a prototypical point guard, more so a wingman with some plus ball-moving tendencies, making his fit in Washington fairly easy to visualize. Many of their defense-first prospects are still a ways away from offering NBA-ready offense on a night-to-night basis, with Bub Carrington's careful maneuvering of a defense occasionally looking passive and Kyshawn George having little to offer as a creator on top of his shooting.

Johnson can space the floor without having to demand the ball, can play multiple positions and adds a wrinkle that the team otherwise lacks. He'll likely be on the board should the Wizards fall below their projected odds at the draft's summit, and will make for a worthy consideration between his polished skillset and underrated adaptability.

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