Tre Johnson’s rookie reality check arrives sooner than anyone thought

Entering his rookie season, Tre Johnson had arguably the most hype of any rookie not named Cooper Flagg.

The former Texas star turned heads throughout his freshman season with the Longhorns, but it was really his play throughout the NBA Combine that turned heads around the league.

Johnson slowly but surely saw his stock rise and many viewed him as one of the top prospects in the 2025 NBA Draft class solely off his ability to score at will.

Nonetheless, his start to the season hasn't yet given the team any validation that they made the right selection with the No. 6 overall pick this past offseason.

Obviously, it's too early for a rebuilding team like the Wizards to panic, but with the recent rookie ladder released by NBA.com, it's hard not to sit back and evaluate the names placed ahead of Johnson up to this point of the season.

Johnson finds himself at No. 9 on the NBA's recent list of top rookies to start the season.

The ladder means nothing, but at the same time it indicates how much success the rookies have had throughout the start of the season.

For Washington, names like Flagg, VJ Edgecombe and Kon Knueppel don't mean much, simply due to the fact the Wizards weren't in position to land these prospects.

However, with names like Jeremiah Fears, Cedric Coward and Derik Queen featured above Johnson, it's hard not to look at the list and wonder if the team made the best decision by banking on the guard's offensive potential.

Washington had a glaring need at point guard and the team's positional weakness has only become more obvious with the struggles of Bub Carrington to start the season.

A player like Fears, who was widely considered to be a real possibility for the Wizards with their selection being slotted above Johnson is enough to make the Wizards fanbase and front office evaluate their start to the season.

Averaging 15.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists in arguably a worse situation with the New Orleans Pelicans than Johnson has on the Wizards, Fears success directly links to the growing questions being brought up by the rookie's start to the year in the DMV.

Johnson still has plenty of time to turn things around, and while he's not playing poorly, the hype surrounding him as the NBA Rookie of the Year has seemingly fizzled out.