The Washington Wizards have created a bit of a reputation for themselves over the last few offseasons.
Washington has made it clear with the scouting that when it comes to the NBA Draft, they view potential higher than production.
And if that's not the case, they've made it pretty hard to think otherwise considering their track record the last few years.
Over the last five years, Washington has selected high in the first round of the NBA Draft.
Looking back at their pick history, almost every pick made by the Wizards was solely based on their potential to develop into a star in the NBA rather than their production prior to making the leap.
Wizards First Round Picks Since 2020:
2020: Round 1, Pick 9: Overall Deni Avdija
2021: Round 1, Pick 15: Corey Kispert
2022: Round 1, Pick 10: Johnny Davis
2023: Round 1, Pick 7 Bilal Coulibaly (via Trade)
2024: Rond 1, Pick 2: Alex Sarr
Washington has taken several swings on player that they feel could elevate them to the next level throughout this long rebuild.
However, up to this point, they haven't found a player that can do that and it hasn't been very close either.
The Wizards gave up on Deni Avdija seemingly too soon and now he looks poised to be a breakout star with the Portland Trail Blazers after his impressive season last year.
Corey Kispert has seemingly reached his ceiling in Washington as he looks like nothing more than a servicable 3-and-D role player off the bench.
Johnny Davis may go down as one of the worst picks in Wizards history and there's not much need to explain why.
Bilal Coulibaly showed early flashes, but up to this point his progress doesn't seem worth the wait on his potential.
Alex Sarr still has time to turn things around and while he showed plenty to be optimistic about as a rookie, the 7-footer also showed plenty to be worried about moving forward as well.
Which leads us to the Wizards most recent draft pick in Tre Johnson.
Johnson has all the tools to be the cornerstone piece the Wizards have desperately been looking for and while he definitely put more production on the table than others, there's no denying that his potential is off the charts as well.
The guard has everything Washington needs for him to develop into a star, and if he's able to do that, he could rewrite the whole narrative about the Wizards' underwhelming draft history.