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New York Times
09-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Wizards draftee Tre Johnson has no time for rest: ‘He wants to be great'
Early in the 2024-25 college basketball season, Washington Wizards general manager Will Dawkins visited Texas to scout the Longhorns' heralded freshman perimeter player, Tre Johnson. Dawkins had been aware of Johnson for years and knew all about Johnson's made-for-the-NBA shooting motion. However, when Dawkins walked into the Longhorns' gym at 7:15 a.m., well in advance of the team's early morning practice time, Johnson caught Dawkins by surprise. Advertisement Johnson was already on the court, bathed in a full sweat. Longhorns staff members informed Dawkins that Johnson was on his second workout of the day. 'That's when I knew this kid's a little different,' Dawkins said in an interview with The Athletic. In the months that followed, so many people from Johnson's past and present regaled Wizards scouts and executives with tales about his standout work ethic that those stories became impossible to ignore. Johnson's high school coach recalled how Johnson would spend hours after team practices honing his shot, with either Johnson's dad or a trainer leading him through the individual workouts. Johnson's college coach remembered how he and his assistant coaches put Johnson on a load-management program on game days so he would conserve his energy for tipoff. The overall picture that emerged told an unmistakable story. Johnson is, according to one coach, 'the ultimate gym rat,' someone who never needs to be coaxed into the gym. Johnson's passion for the game is a primary reason why the Wizards selected him sixth in last month's NBA Draft. His ambition has led him to take tens of thousands of jump shots throughout his life, making him perhaps the best pure shooter in this year's draft class, earning him comparisons to Dale Ellis, Ray Allen and Devin Booker. 'I really don't have too much of a life outside of basketball, and that was literally a choice up to me because of just how good I wanted to be,' Johnson said. He traces his love for the sport to his father, Richard Johnson Jr., who played college ball at Baylor before he transferred to Midwestern State (Texas), a Division II school, for his junior and senior seasons. As a child, Tre would pore through old VHS tapes of his dad's college games and watch him play in pickup games against adults. Richard taught physical education and worked as an assistant boys basketball coach at Dallas' Lake Highlands, where Tre spent his first three years of high school and led the team to a state title as a junior. Advertisement Richard and Tre have much in common: similar builds, charismatic smiles and an admiration for Kevin Durant. Durant was Richard's favorite NBA player throughout Tre's childhood. Since Durant's games were often televised during basketball season, Tre also grew to respect him and now calls Durant his favorite player. Although father and son share a craftsman's approach to the game, they have developed different playing styles. At 6 foot 3, Richard built a reputation as a physical, slashing guard who attacked the basket on offense. At just under 6-5 without shoes, Tre distinguishes himself as an outside shooter. He averaged 19.9 points during his lone collegiate season, led the SEC in scoring and hit 40 percent of his 3-pointers. Where Tre needs work, and what he shares in common with many 19-year-olds about to enter the pros, is his defense and physical strength. He knows about his weaknesses in large part because he started his interviews with teams during May's NBA Draft Combine by asking talent evaluators to identify his weaknesses. Improved defense and getting stronger — those were the nearly universal responses, Johnson recalled. And on June 12, the night before Johnson's workout in front of Wizards officials in Washington, Dawkins reviewed game film from Johnson's year at Texas and showed him examples of defensive plays that Dawkins felt Johnson had taken off. Rodney Terry, the Longhorns coach during Johnson's freshman year, acknowledged that Johnson must improve on defense. However, Terry, who was fired after the season, added some necessary context. Johnson averaged nearly 35 minutes of playing time, far and away the team's leader, and was asked to be the focal point of the Texas offense. Because Johnson shouldered such a responsibility on that end of the floor, there were times when his defense lagged. Advertisement 'For us last year, I really needed him to score,' Terry said. 'I really tried to challenge him at times to be a good defender, and there were times that he showed glimpses that he could do that. I think it's going to be predicated on the culture that he's in (in the NBA) and also the guys that he's around.' Terry also emphasized that Johnson has the confidence to accept constructive criticism and a desire to improve. Basketball really is the focus of Johnson's life. When top recruits would take their official visits to Texas, many of them would spend their first night in Austin going out on the town with the Longhorns' incumbent players, Terry said. Not Johnson. On his first night, Johnson spent until 1 a.m. shooting baskets with, and playing one-on-one against, one of the Longhorns' players. Johnson confirmed that anecdote during a recent interview, adding that he wanted to start jelling with a potential future teammate and that — in what's now a surprise to no one — 'I also like being in the gym working rather than going out.' The Wizards did thorough homework on Johnson. Dawkins wasn't the only member of the front office to closely monitor the youngster. Others did, too, including longtime talent evaluator Frank Ross, who lives in Austin. A few days ago, when Dawkins was asked whether he had heard the story of Johnson spending the first night of his official visit to Austin in the gym, Dawkins flashed a wry smile and answered, 'We heard that story and confirmed that story.' Dawkins also heard and confirmed that on days when the Longhorns would play night games, Johnson would do individual shooting work before the team's morning walkthrough, then return to the gym for more shots before the pregame meal and shoot again after the meal. His coaches insisted that he tone things down to remain fresh for the actual game. Some players need to be prodded to go to the gym; Johnson has to be nudged out of it. Advertisement 'He's going to be an old-school throwback kind of guy in terms of really working on his game and having a love for the game,' Terry said. 'I think he'll be a guy that has an impact early in his career, because his skill set's very high.' Joe Duffield agrees with that assessment. Duffield coached for three years at Lake Highlands and saw Johnson dominate games against some of the state's top high-school competition. As a sophomore, Johnson scored 39 points in a loss to archrival Richardson High, which was led by senior (and future Oklahoma City Thunder starter) Cason Wallace. To be clear, Wallace typically did not guard Johnson during that game, as evidenced by the game's highlights, but Johnson demonstrated his star power at an early age. Even as a lanky, rail-thin 16-year-old, his shooting motion looked pristine. 'It's picture perfect, and I think a lot of that credit goes to (his) dad,' Duffield said. 'He's got a really high release point. His mechanics are really, really good. It's quick. There's not a lot of wasted motion. I think there's a lot of similarities to a Ray Allen or Devin Booker in the mechanics and the way the shot looks.' There's something else to like. Duffield said that Johnson excels in big moments. In 2023, Johnson led Lake Highlands to its first state championship since 1968, scoring a game-high 29 points in the title game. Johnson shared that moment with his dad, who was an assistant coach on that team. 'He's very passionate about the game,' Richard Johnson Jr. said. 'He loves it very much. I think that's his 'why.' He wants to be the best. He wants to be great … and he knows what comes with that. There's going to be a lot of ups and downs, but he's willing to accept them because he sees the light at the end of the tunnel: him being one of the greatest.' Advertisement Tre's road to the NBA will take another turn Friday night, when he makes his NBA Summer League debut, playing for the Wizards. His dream is coming true. But he doesn't want to stop now. 'A top-five best player of all time,' Tre said. 'That's what the goal is for me when it's all said and done.' (Top photo of Tre Johnson: Scott Wachter / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Washington Post
07-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Lessons the Wizards can learn from the Thunder and Sam Presti's GM tree
It's a good time to be a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder just won the NBA title, its three best players have an average age under 25, and it has the most draft capital in the league. It's no wonder that Sam Presti, the Thunder's general manager, was named NBA executive of the year. This isn't his first run at success — Presti also built a championship-worthy team by drafting former MVPs Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. As is custom in the copycat world of sports, other teams have tried to replicate the Thunder's success by hiring Presti's protégés. Since 2010, the Thunder has had a league-high five front-office members hired as general managers, according to the team website. Two of them lead the Washington Wizards: President Michael Winger and General Manager Will Dawkins. Winger, who was previously the Los Angeles Clippers' general manager, was the Thunder's assistant general manager and team counsel from 2010 to 2017. The Clippers went 272-200 and made the playoffs four times during his tenure as GM. He worked under Lawrence Frank, the president of basketball operations. Dawkins rose up from intern to vice president of basketball operations over 15 seasons with the Thunder. But Winger and Dawkins aren't the first Presti offshoots to get hired. How did the others do — and what could the Wizards learn from them? Rob Hennigan Orlando Magic general manager, 2012-17 Thunder experience: 2008-12, 2017-present When he was hired in 2012, the 30-year-old was the youngest general manager in NBA history. His teams never made the playoffs over five seasons, compiling a regular season record of 132-278. What worked: Among Hennigan's first moves was trading star center Dwight Howard. The Magic's return wasn't spectacular but did net it a solid center in Nikola Vucevic. Hennigan also made some decent draft picks, taking Victor Oladipo at No. 2 in 2013 and Aaron Gordon at No. 4 in 2014. What didn't: The Magic whiffed in the 2015 draft by taking Mario Hezonja at No. 5. But Hennigan's biggest mistake came in a trade he made with Presti. On draft night in 2016, the Magic dealt Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and the No. 11 pick — which became Domantas Sabonis — to the Thunder for Serge Ibaka. Ibaka, a pending free agent, didn't make it the full season in Orlando. Hennigan traded him in February 2017 to the Toronto Raptors for Terrence Ross and a 2017 first-round pick, which ended up as the No. 25 selection. What happened next makes the deal look worse. The Thunder traded Oladipo and Sabonis to the Pacers for star wing Paul George. And the Thunder traded George to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of a package that included 2025 regular season MVP and Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Oladipo, Sabonis, George and Gilgeous-Alexander have combined for 12 all-NBA selections. Ross and Ibaka? Zero. Lesson for the Wizards: Evaluate your own talent properly. The George and Gilgeous-Alexander trades aside, Oladipo blossomed into a star in Indiana before multiple injuries limited him. Gordon was miscast as a No. 1 option but turned into a high-level starter and an NBA champion with the Denver Nuggets. Vucevic and Sabonis could have been a solid big man tandem. The core probably wouldn't have been a true contender but might have been a solid, playoff-worthy squad. Hennigan declined a request to comment through an Oklahoma City representative. Rich Cho Portland Trail Blazers general manager, 2010-11; Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets general manager, 2011-18 Thunder/SuperSonics experience: 1995-2010 Cho was fired after less than a year in Portland and worked under President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins in Charlotte. Cho became the top decision-maker after Higgins's exit in 2014. Charlotte went 223-334 and made the playoffs twice with Cho. After Higgins's exit, Cho and the Hornets went 152-175. What worked: In Cho's first draft, Charlotte selected four-time all-star Kemba Walker with the No. 9 pick. With Cho as the lead decision-maker in 2017, the franchise selected Malik Monk — who has been a productive scoring guard throughout his career — with the No. 11 pick. Charlotte also traded for reliable wing Nicolas Batum in 2015. What didn't: Cho never found a running mate for Walker. With the No. 2 pick in 2012, the then-Bobcats took Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, a defense-oriented, shooting-challenged wing. He stuck around the league for eight years but never turned into a premier defender nor a passable shooter. Over the next three drafts, Charlotte selected Cody Zeller, Noah Vonleh and Frank Kaminsky with its first-round pick. Zeller, a solid but unremarkable player, became the best of the bunch. Charlotte won 48 games and made the playoffs in 2015-16 but couldn't build on that success. Cho traded the team's 2016 first-round pick, No. 22 overall, for Marco Belinelli. It proved too steep a price — ESPN gave the Hornets a D-minus for the trade — and Belinelli was traded less than a year later. Charlotte won just 36 games next season and hasn't made the playoffs since. Lessons for the Wizards: 'Draft and develop better' isn't game-changing advice but remains a critical part of a general manager's job. Another one: operate with ambition. Cho seemed to nibble around the edges during his tenure and never built on his team's brief competitive stint, instead getting stuck in the middle. Cho, now working for the Memphis Grizzlies, declined a request to comment through a team representative. Troy Weaver Detroit Pistons general manager, 2020-24 Thunder experience: 2008-20 Weaver's four years in Detroit yielded no playoff appearances and a 74-244 record. After leaving Detroit, he came to Washington to be a senior adviser for the Wizards for a year before joining the New Orleans Pelicans' front office. What worked: Weaver, known as a strong draft evaluator, tipped off an extended rebuild with Detroit, picking some of the players who powered the team's 2024-25 playoff season. Weaver's best move was his easiest: taking guard Cade Cunningham, an all-NBA performer this past season, with the first pick of the 2021 draft. Weaver also drafted Ausar Thompson, an exceptional athlete with a promising future, with the No. 5 pick in 2023. He also traded for Jalen Duren, who averaged a double-double last season. What didn't: Weaver drafted Killian Hayes with the No. 7 pick in 2020. The guard spent most of the 2024-25 season in the G League. Weaver over-indexed on big men (Duren, Isaiah Stewart, Marvin Bagley III, James Wiseman) and good athletes who struggled to shoot (Thompson, Hayes, Josh Jackson). He also rarely found excess value in the first round. Detroit never entered any of his four drafts with multiple first-round picks. It did trade for Duren (No. 13 overall) on draft night in 2022 but had to give up a protected first-round pick to do so. Weaver also struggled to find the right coach. He inherited Dwane Casey, who was hired in 2018, and only moved on from him in 2023. Weaver then signed Monty Williams, who had success with the Phoenix Suns, to a six-year contract. Williams made it just one season. Weaver's successor, Trajan Langdon, fired him. Lesson for the Wizards: Use avenues such as free agency and trades (absorbing bad contracts, signing and trading veterans, etc.) to give yourself as many opportunities in the draft as possible. The Thunder has embraced this lesson. The Wizards seemingly have as well — their roster features eight players picked in the first round of the past three drafts. Weaver declined a request to comment through a New Orleans representative.
New York Times
05-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How the Cam Whitmore trade fits into the Washington Wizards' long-term plan
WASHINGTON — Low risk. Potentially high reward. That's an accurate way to describe a trade that the Washington Wizards agreed to on Saturday afternoon. The Wizards will receive offensive-minded wing Cam Whitmore from the Houston Rockets for a pair of future second-round picks. The move meshes with one of the goals that Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger and Wizards general manager Will Dawkins set when they were hired in 2023. They continue to prioritize adding talented young players and future draft picks, hoping that one or a few will develop into high-level pros. Advertisement In 2023, many draft analysts projected Whitmore as a likely lottery pick until he fell to the Rockets at No. 20. In his two NBA seasons with Houston, he struggled to earn consistent playing time as the Rockets made significant on-court strides under defensive-minded coach Ime Udoka, rising to a .500 record during Whitmore's rookie season and finishing second in the Western Conference's standings last season. Udoka built the Rockets into one of the league's best defenses, and Whitmore, who was mistake-prone and perhaps even uninterested at times on defense, was nowhere near as effective defensively as fellow wings Amen Thompson and Tari Eason. Meanwhile, Whitmore was not as efficient a scorer as Jalen Green, another teammate on the wing. The Rockets attempted to harness Whitmore's talent on multiple occasions — sending him to the G League to aid his development and meeting with him periodically over his role — but his frustration with a lack of playing time never waned. Udoka, who had challenged Whitmore publicly and privately to adopt a more team-first approach on both ends, simply couldn't justify his place in the rotation ahead of other players. From the Wizards' perspective, Whitmore remains an intriguing prospect. He's a skilled, physical player. Whitmore is still young (he'll turn 21 on Tuesday), and he and third-year wing Bilal Coulibaly arguably are the best pure athletes on Washington's roster. The 2023 draft was the same draft in which Washington traded up one spot to select Coulibaly seventh. A team source said that Winger, Dawkins and Wizards senior vice president for player personnel Travis Schlenk thought highly enough of Whitmore that they attempted to make a draft-night trade to acquire another first-round pick that they would have used to select Whitmore before Houston snapped him up at No. 20. Advertisement Now, nearly two years later, the Wizards finally have Whitmore — and have brought him aboard at a low cost. Washington will send Houston the Chicago Bulls' 2026 second-round pick and the Sacramento Kings' 2029 second-round pick, per team sources. In a move of salary-cap mechanics, Saturday afternoon's trade will be folded into the previously agreed-upon deal in which the Wizards sent Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey and the 40th pick in this year's draft for wing CJ McCollum, big man Kelly Olynyk and a 2027 second-round pick from Chicago. A trade call with the league about the entire transaction could occur as early as Sunday. Whitmore, who is 6-foot-7 and 230 pounds, can play shooting guard, small forward and, against many small-ball lineups, power forward. The potential risk of this trade has less to do with the pair of outgoing second-round picks that the Wizards will send to the Rockets and more to do with playing time. Even before the trade to add Whitmore, Washington already had a roster disproportionately loaded with wings and combo forwards — most notably, Coulibaly, McCollum, Kyshawn George, Khris Middleton, Justin Champagnie, AJ Johnson and this year's first-round picks, Tre Johnson and Will Riley. So, how will coach Brian Keefe allocate playing time? The younger guys almost certainly will get their minutes, but even if Keefe deploys three-wing lineups that don't have a traditional power forward, it will be a difficult task to distribute the minutes equitably. The trade is a homecoming for Whitmore. He graduated from Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Md., which is about 32 miles from the Wizards' Capital One Arena. In the years ahead, Whitmore will receive every opportunity to make the Wizards his long-term NBA home. (Top photo of Cam Whitmore and Max Christie: Jerome Miron / Imagn Images)
Washington Post
28-06-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
The Wizards' draft picks aren't afraid of a little hard work
A recurring theme emerged as the Washington Wizards introduced their three draft picks Saturday morning: General Manager Will Dawkins and the players themselves emphasized the trio's exemplary work ethic. Dawkins said Texas guard Tre Johnson (sixth overall), Illinois forward Will Riley (21st) and Florida State guard Jamir Watkins (43rd) bring 'serious competitiveness' and 'workmanlike mentality.'
New York Times
26-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Drafting Tre Johnson should give Wizards the best shooter in 2025 NBA Draft
WASHINGTON — The Washington Wizards' efforts to develop Tre Johnson as a basketball player started two weeks before the team drafted him sixth Wednesday night. On June 12, one day before Johnson's workout for team officials, Wizards general manager Will Dawkins showed Johnson some video clips from Johnson's lone season at the University of Texas. Those film snippets revealed Johnson taking some plays off. Dawkins wanted to gauge Johnson's feel for the game, see how Johnson responds to constructive criticism and also motivate him for the next day's workout. Advertisement Dawkins' blunt feedback helped in the short term. 'I appreciate him,' Johnson said Wednesday night, after Washington picked him. 'I feel like in my workout, he kind of pushed me, and I needed that.' The Wizards soon will begin learning whether it will help in the long term. Johnson, a 6-foot-5 swingman, ranked as perhaps the best shooting prospect in this year's draft after he hit 40 percent of his 3s as a college freshman. However, there are elements of Johnson's game that require significant improvement, including his defense, finishing at the basket and physical strength. 'It's important to be transparent,' Dawkins said after the draft's first round Wednesday night. 'There's a lot to like with Tre. But there are some areas he's got to grow in, just like every other 19-year-old player, and we'd rather address it on the front end, see if he can improve upon it, see what his answers are. It was just fun banter and conversation.' Dawkins was engaging in a bit of understatement there. It wasn't just 'fun banter.' In an ideal world, it will help establish a pattern in which Johnson eliminates his shortcomings and systematically solidifies his strengths. The Wizards need to hit on their selection of Johnson and help him come as close as possible to fulfilling his potential. In that sense, Johnson is no different than Washington's stuffed cupboard of young prospects, which includes wings Bilal Coulibaly and Kyshawn Johnson, guards Bub Carrington and AJ Johnson and big man Alex Sarr. There is a lot of work to be done. On Wednesday night, Winger and Dawkins made another move. They traded the draft rights to 18th pick Walter Clayton Jr. to the Utah Jazz for the draft rights to 21st pick Will Riley, the 43rd pick, a 2031 second-round pick and a 2032 second-round pick. Riley, a 6-foot-8 swingman from the University of Illinois who won the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year award, has a good feel for the game, drives confidently to the basket and has potential as a playmaker. 'Adding Tre and Will, they're like-minded players,' Dawkins said. 'They have some versatility. They compete. They get after it. And we're going to give them the same runway that we've given all the other players that we've drafted to work on their craft.' The Wizards' front office also had Rutgers wing Ace Bailey high on their draft board, and most likely ranked Bailey higher than they ranked Johnson. However, in one of Wednesday's biggest surprises, at least from the general public's perspective, the Jazz snapped up Bailey with the fifth pick. That had to be painful for Washington. Throughout the final weeks of the 2024-25 season, the Wizards and Jazz raced to the bottom of the league standings, attempting to outtank each other. In their season finale, the Wizards defeated the Miami Heat 119-118 when Carrington hit an off-balance buzzer-beater to end the game. The victory ensured that the Wizards finished with the NBA's second-worst record. Advertisement The Jazz could exit the lottery with no worse than the fifth overall pick, while the Wizards could receive no worse than the sixth overall pick. And that's precisely what happened: Both teams fell to their worst possible draft slots. And now, fairly or unfairly, Bailey and Johnson will be inextricably linked in the eyes of Wizards fans for years to come. Tuesday's trade of Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey and this year's 40th pick to New Orleans for CJ McCollum, Kelly Olynyk and a 2027 second-round pick will create avenues for Johnson and Riley to play extensively as rookies. 'Both those guys are young,' Dawkins said. 'They've got to get better on the defensive end and just get more efficient where they can. But a lot of stuff is … just catching up with the speed of the game, working on their bodies, improving their habits. Things like that will go a long way. 'But fortunately, these two guys, they 'eat the gym.' They're in there, they're workers and it's in their DNA. So, I feel pretty good about whatever their weaknesses are and at least shoring those up.' (Top photo of Tre Johnson: Steve Roberts / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
