Inside The Wizards

Wizards Rookie Named Summer League Star

One of the Washington Wizards' top prospects impressed enough during his short Summer League stint to earn distinction among the leagues most promising young stars.

Henry Brown

Feb 15, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Tre Johnson (20) during the first half against the Kentucky Wildcats at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Feb 15, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Tre Johnson (20) during the first half against the Kentucky Wildcats at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
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Most top prospects play minimally in the NBA Summer League, with their pro teams often seeing all they need to in the opening weekend before pulling the plug on their young stars.

The Washington Wizards, boasting more young developing pieces than almost anyone, had an entire starting lineup made up of first-round picks they've made over the last two drafts, and everyone had a moment to shine. While rising sophomores Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George bowed out after two games, both of the team's recent draftees in Tre Johnson and Will Riley were removed from the lineup due to injury, and they're both likely done for the summer with just one game remaining.

Even though Johnson didn't wrap up his Las Vegas stint as top prospects usually do, he already looks like the best scorer the team's drafted since they picked up Bradley Beal 13 years ago.

He drained enough pull-up jumpers and attempted enough audacious shots to capture some national buzz as a potential star. The Ringer's J. Kyle Mann named Johnson as one of The Seven Spotlight Stealers of 2025 NBA Summer League, comfortably placing him in the same class as Cooper Flagg, Reed Sheppard and Yang Hansen.

"Johnson hit the ground running at Thomas & Mack doing what he does best: cashing dribble pull-up 3s with zero hesitation, two-stepping his way into the paint to unearth turnaround jumpers," Mann gushed. "And while he’s very much a ravenous luster for buckets, he’s even sprinkled in some moments of connective passing."

He touches on the positivity surrounding Washington's rebuild, as well as the excitement surrounding their potentially landing that star scorer. "All in all, I was confident in him before this weekend and I’m an even bigger believer now based on what I saw. Wiz faithful have to be giddy."

There's no guarantee that the young Johnson will blossom into the "load-bearing offensive star" that every developing team needs to lead them into the next phase, but the little that he did provide the viewing audience inspires about as much hope as the franchise has had in nearly a decade.

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Henry Brown
HENRY BROWN

Henry covers the Washington Wizards and Baltimore Ravens with prior experience as a sports reporter with The Baltimore Sun, the Capital Gazette and The Lead. A Bowie, MD native, he earned his Journalism degree at the University of Maryland.

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