After a lottery gut punch, the Wizards pivoted, solidly, with first-rounder Tre Johnson

New York Times

5 days ago

Every NBA team — every single one — needs a guy who can put the ball in the basket. Every team needs a Jamal Murray. Or a Devin Booker. And, at the top of that food chain, a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Tre Johnson, taken sixth in a draft that started in gut-wrenching fashion for the Washington Wizards six weeks ago at the lottery in Chicago, finally gets Washington back into that space, almost two years to the day since the Wizards traded Bradley Beal. Johnson is the best shooter in the 2025 draft. And he'll be the Wizards' best young two guard since Washington took Beal third in the 2012 draft. That is pretty good triage for the gaping emotional wound of watching their Cooper Flagg/Dylan Harper dreams perish last month.
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And, for a team still hip-deep into a yearslong rebuild, Tre Johnson — who just turned 19 in March — is both a positional and timeline fit for a still-achingly young core group. Illinois wing Will Riley, taken 21st by the Wizards after they moved back from 18 in a trade with the Utah Jazz, is 19. Bub Carrington turns 20 in a few weeks, five days before Bilal Coulibaly turns 21. Alex Sarr is 20. Kyshawn George will be 22 in December. A.J. Johnson, acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks in the Kyle Kuzma deal, is 20. Justin Champagnie, the senior citizen of the group, is 23. (At 26, Corey Kispert qualifies for Medicare.)
A lot — a lot — of Wizards fans wanted Ace Bailey at six, or at five, four or three; whatever Washington had to do to get him. I get it. Bailey's a big name and a big talent. And he could well become a superstar in this league. A lot of others wanted the Wiz to stay local and take Maryland's Derik Queen at six. Which, again, I get. Queen can play. You can run an offense through him.
But Utah took Bailey with the fifth pick, one spot ahead of Washington. And, at any rate, neither Bailey nor Queen provides what the Wizards say they value most: positional length and defensive flexibility.
If Bailey were actually 6-10, as he'd been advertised to be through his one season at Rutgers, that would be different. He would tower over most wings in the league. But he measured 6-7 1/2 at the Chicago combine. That's still good size. But not difference-making.
And Queen, to put it charitably, doesn't provide much defensive presence.
Tre Johnson is 6-4 3/4, with a 6-10 3/4 wingspan — the same wingspan as 6-8 1/4 guard Egor Demin, taken two picks later in the first round by the Brooklyn Nets. That is very good size and length for a projected NBA two guard. And Johnson fills a needed position for Washington. Until this week, the Wizards didn't have much perimeter backcourt shooting other than Jordan Poole. And Poole is no longer here. (Yes, Kispert plays some two, but ideally, he's a wing.)
Now, Washington will have Tre Johnson, and CJ McCollum, a career .397 shooter from deep, at the two.
Tre Johnson's checkin' in with our D.C. fam for the first time 📲 pic.twitter.com/PPVQ3bhdqm
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) June 26, 2025
'Tre, when you look at how well he shot off the dribble, and as well as off the catch … that's impressive, at his size,' general manager Will Dawkins said after Round 1. 'I think, pound-for-pound, (he's) if not the best shooter, then one of the best shooters in the draft. But that's not his only skill. He's someone that can make plays, and make plays for others.'
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Still, Tre Johnson's not a great defensive player right now.
That might be what he was talking about Wednesday night, as he recalled his pre-draft meeting with Washington. Early, and often, Dawkins showed his pick-to-be plays that Johnson, by his own admission, took off in college.
'It was, really, Will just talking to me about the kind of player I want to be,' Johnson said.
Washington is getting a knockdown shooter, the SEC's Rookie of the Year and an all-conference selection. At 18 during most of the season, Johnson led a Power 4 conference in scoring (19.9 ppg), shot nearly 40 percent from deep overall and almost 41 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s. That came on high usage (29.3 percent) in Austin, which won't be the case with the Wizards. Also, he will have to get better at putting the ball on the deck.
But, post-Poole, the Wizards expect and hope to spray the ball around more. This isn't a diss of Poole. He was the only guy who could go get a bucket last season. And off the swing-swing pass, Johnson should make defenses pay.
'During the workout, we'd throw him in positions, on offense, plays that we run, and see how quickly he picks up on it. And the guy's a sponge. He has a high IQ,' Dawkins said.
One can appreciate what Poole did last season in Washington — genuinely. He was a great teammate. He was a much more efficient player on offense. He shot a very good percentage, considering he was the one guy on the team who could get his own shot, and every opponent knew it. He gave much better and more consistent effort on defense.
But the Wizards needed to move him. That they were able to do so and take two expiring contracts back in McCollum and Kelly Olynyk was an especially deft work of future cap management.
The reasoning is simple. Washington can't depend, anymore, on ping-pong balls.
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Its quickest path to rebuilding the roster, it hoped, would be taking top-three picks in 2025 and 2026. The first part of that plan went up in flames. The Wizards certainly are planning to be a bottom-eight team in 2025-26, to keep their first-round pick. But they can't count, anymore, on hoping that they'll be bad enough to get one of AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson or Cameron Boozer, the expected-for-now top three picks in '26. They have to have a Plan B to improve the roster further next year.
By moving Poole now, rather than a year from now, they're in position to potentially clear something close to $100 million in cap space next summer. It will almost certainly not be $100 million. But, at minimum, the Wizards will have ample space — in excess of $50 million to $60 million, at least — to take in a bad contract from a team, or teams, that will be looking to get out of second apron hell.
The Boston Celtics pulled the trigger this offseason by moving Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday. The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic are among teams that will have similarly hard roster decisions after next season. The Denver Nuggets' governor, Josh Kroenke, even volunteered the unthinkable the other day: discussing how the second apron and unforeseen circumstances could, hypothetically, force the Nuggets to have to trade Nikola Jokić. (Hey, can you resuscitate an entire fan base with just one tank of oxygen?)
The Wizards, now, don't have to depend on lottery luck next year. They can hotwire their roster by being able to take an expensive, but talented, player that better teams can no longer afford.
But until then, the Wizards will take their lumps. Again. But now, it's all in with the kids. Carrington, Tre Johnson and A.J. Johnson in the backcourt — though McCollum, as long as he's here, certainly will get minutes. George, Coulibaly, Kispert, Champagnie and Riley on the wings — though Khris Middleton, as long as he's here, certainly will get minutes, and would probably start. Sarr will play the middle — though Olynyk, as long as he's here, will get some minutes.
And it's time to take the training wheels off.
I suspect Marcus Smart will not be on the roster opening night. There just isn't any point, for him or the team, to spend any more time here. And there are too many teams (the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings — and, now, unfortunately, the Indiana Pacers) that could use a veteran floor general. I don't know that a lot of Middleton makes a whole lot of sense, either, but get that he might have to show other teams, at least up until the trade deadline, that he's healthy again.
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For sure, Washington has to find out whether Coulibaly can get through a season without breaking down, and if he can make enough 3s to really be a part of this team's future. Time to see whether Sarr can take a big jump in Year 2. Time to see whether A.J. Johnson can be a real change-of-pace scorer off the bench.
But, most importantly, it's time to give Carrington the ball for 30-34 minutes a night and see what you have. Time to see what a Carrington-Tre Johnson backcourt can really do for 24-28 minutes a night, with McCollum filling in at both guard spots and mentoring, something he did to great effect while with the New Orleans Pelicans.
This is Washington's backcourt of the future.
'We feel confident where Bub has the ball,' Dawkins said. 'And we want to make sure that we're playing a style where everybody touches it. But he's going to take a step this summer. He's been in the gym, with Ky, with Alex, with Justin, with A.J. These guys have been back since May 1. It's pretty impressive, the work they've been putting in. And they're ready for the challenge and ready for more opportunity.'
Dawkins and president of Monumental Basketball Michael Winger have had three drafts to show what they value in young players, and who they think has the kind of upside to take early in the first round. It's time to find out whether they're right.