Tre Johnson's role on the Washington Wizards was never a mystery. He was taken No. 6 overall to score, score, and score some more. In the very early stages of his NBA career, he's done just that. Johnson has scored 16, 17, and 18 points in his first three games, shooting over 40 percent from the field in each of them, and already hitting 9 three-pointers.
We knew what this Wizards season would entail; tons of experimentation, a bit of frustration, and hopefully a lot of development from the team's young core. Or, maybe a step further, finding out who's even part the young core. Tre Johnson's early returns suggest that he's not merely part of the young core, he can be the face of it.
Johnson and Kyshawn George have both sped out of the gate this season. If this proves to be the duo that pushes Washington into the future... That would be pretty cool! And the Wizards learning whether that's the case ASAP will expedite the rebuild process.
Tre Johnson is scoring in different ways
There are levels to Tre Johnson's scoring prowess. Literally, levels; he can score from all three of them, as they say, and he's shown off two of those levels so far. He looks comfortable in the midrange, and the near-40% 3-point shooting in college was always going to play in the NBA.
Johnson has also already shown a willingness (and ability) to create offense on his own. Just a little over half of his made baskets have been assisted; if he can stay around that number all year, and keep his scoring efficiency passable (which is a lot to ask, I understand) than Johnson will have blown away expectations.
Whether that results in winning... Doesn't matter much to me.
How much can Tre Johnson impact winning as a rookie?
Probably not a ton — and that's fine. Most rookies don't swing their team's fortunes one way or the other, and Johnson specifically is on a team that still has multiple missing pieces before it can feasibly compete in the East.
But just because he's not directly impacting the outcome of games doesn't mean he's not doing exactly what the Wizards want from him this year. His expectations have less to do with team success, and more to do with getting comfortable on an NBA court and finding out what works, what doesn't, where he excels, and where he needs to improve.
In 2025-26, the 19 year-old's prerogative is to shoot a lot — scoring a lot would be a nice bonus!