Washington Wizards select Tre Johnson in 2025 NBA Draft

Texas SG Tre Johnson is one of the top-scoring prospects in the 2025 NBA Draft after his freshman season in Austin. Now, despite still needing to add more to his game at the next level, Johnson is off the board already.

The Washington Wizards selected Johnson in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft. They did so with the No. 6 pick overall.

Johnson spent one season playing for the Longhorns, starting in 33 games for UT. He would post 19.9 points (42.7% FG, 39.7% 3PT on 2.7 makes), 3.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. That not only made him the leading scorer for Texas but made him the leading scorer in the SEC and the highest-scoring freshman, who tied for 13th overall nationally, in the NCAA. He was also among the sport’s better three-point shooters. That won him SEC Freshman of the Year and earned him spots on the All-SEC Second Team and All-SEC Freshman Team.

That’s after Johnson, a Garland, Texas native, played high school basketball at Link Academy in Branson, Missouri after previously playing for Lake Highlands in Dallas. He finished rated as a Five-Star+ prospect as the No. 5 overall recruit in the 2024 recruiting cycle. He also ranked as the No. 2 SG, behind only VJ Edgecombe (Baylor) and the No. 1 player out of the state of Missouri. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Regardless of where he was drafted, Johnson was going to be an immediate scorer in the NBA. How the rest of his game develops, though, whether playmaking or defensively, will now determine his ceiling as a pro.

What NBA Draft experts are saying about Tre Johnson

Again, the consensus here is that Johnson already has a high floor because of the offense but his ceiling will better be determined by the rest of his game. That was also the opinion of On3’s James Fletcher coming out of the NBA Draft Combine.

“Tre Johnson has been a polarizing prospect throughout the evaluation process, but his combination of size and scoring punch have brought him closer to the top of the board,” wrote Fletcher in May. “The ability to continue his upward trajectory as an offensive playmaker, as well as promise he could improve on defense, provide the type of star outcomes worthy of a high pick.”

Rotowire.com wrote a similar evaluation of Johnson on his draft profile. That came with a comparison of his game to other scoring-focused, larger guard prospects out of college like Jordan Clarkson (Missouri) as well as Cam Thomas (LSU), C.J. McCollum (Lehigh), Terrence Shannon Jr. (Illinois, Texas Tech), and, to some extent, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Kentucky).

“Johnson is a pure three-level scorer. At 6-foot-6, Johnson has the size to get his shot up over smaller defenders whenever he wants, the quickness to blow by anyone sitting on his jumper and the athleticism to finish over help with authority. He loves to face up, jab and pump fake like Carmelo Anthony when given a 1-on-1, but Johnson really excels off screens and in transition,” they wrote. “He’s naturally an off guard and doesn’t show playmaking tendencies. However, Johnson can certainly create and find open teammates when the defense collapses on him. Defensively, Johnson needs to build muscle and be more engaged.”

“Jordan Clarkson (6-5), Cam Thomas (6-3) and CJ McCollum (6-3) are good examples of bigger, score-first guards who developed into solid playmakers at the NBA level. Johnson also shares a lot of similarities with Terrence Shannon (6-6), but Johnson spent only one year in college, while Shannon was a 24-year-old rookie in 2024-25. Johnson has a similar frame to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (6-6, 200), but SGA was more of a true point guard coming out of Kentucky,” they continued. “Clarkson is the most likely comparison for Johnson, but the Texas product has immense upside if he lands in the right spot.”