The Washington Wizards have become the talk of the offseason after making several intriguing moves over the last couple months.
Starting things off with the acquisition of CJ McCollum to serve as a veteran leader in the Wizards backcourt, it became clear early on that Washington would be aggressive this offseason.
Soon after, general manager Will Dawkins assembled one of the most underrated draft classes of the offseason, headlined by the move to land arguably the most explosive scorer in the 2025 NBA Draft in Tre Johnson with the No. 6 overall pick.
Then, Washington made headlines once again by landing another former first-round pick in Cam Whitmore in a deal with the Houston Rockets for an extremely discounted price.
However, the discounted price for Whitmore is a win that can be talked about another time.
Nonetheless, the reason for providing majority of the moves the Wizards made this offseason above is to explain why there's plenty of hype heading into next season.
Washington has several young players poised to make a leap entering the 2025-26 season and with a veteran like McCollum on the roster to serve as a mentor, there's plenty of names to monitor for a breakout season.
Obviously, Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, Kyshawn George and even both Johnson and Whitmore come to mind.
Despite that, the Wizards could have another player poised for a breakout season and he could be hiding in plain sight.
That player? AJ Johnson
The Wizards acquired Johnson as a throw in to the Khris Middleton-Kyle Kuzma swap with the Milwaukee Bucks ahead of the NBA trade deadline in February,
Johnson was a first-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, but as a raw prospect, not only was their not much film on the athletic guard, but it was hard to judge exactly who the Wizards landed considering he struggled to find time on the court in Milwaukee.
However, down the stretch of last season, Johnson saw increased minutes and in every opportunity he was given, the explosive playmaker made some type of play that left fans in awe.
The same trend continued this offseason when Johnson got the chance to suit up for the Wizards Summer League team.
It's clear to see why the Bucks took a swing on the young prospect in the back half of the first round and although he's a very raw talent, there's plenty of upside in his game that suggests he could be a breakout candidate to monitor.
Now, I'm not saying Johnson could breakout to be a 25 point per game scorer immediately; although stranger things have happened.
But, I am saying that it wouldn't be a total shock to see him emerge as a sparkplug scorer for Brian Keefe's squad with the chance to average double digits if he is able to carve out a sizable role this season.
Regardless, keep an eye out for Johnson because his development has proven to be worth monitoring.