Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Wizards HC Explains What Drew Them To Texas Star Tre Johnson

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Alex O'Reilly | Last updated Jul 4, 2025 2:23 PM ET

While the Washington Wizards did not get to pick in the top five of the 2025 NBA draft, they still came out of the draft with a star. Former Texas star Tre Johnson was selected by the Wizards with the sixth pick in the draft. He will be expected to help the team after they went 18-64 last season and finished second last in the league.

On Thursday, head coach Brian Keefe shared his thoughts on why they chose to pick Tre Johnson.

"Really thrilled to add Tre to our group, to our organization," Keefe said. "First of all a guy who loves basketball, who loves his craft, who is a gym rat, who works. From all that work is a guy who's obviously his shooting numbers, how he shoots the ball. A little more than that, too, is he's an underrated playmaker seeing the game.

"But it's really his pursuit of his craft was really drawn us, how he's really intentional about how he wants to be and how he gets better. Those are the things that stood out about Tre. We're really excited to have him."

Tre Johnson played one season in college before declaring for the NBA draft. In his freshman year at Texas, he averaged 19.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

Johnson is now joining a Wizards team that has been among the worst in the NBA for the past several seasons. It remains to be seen if he can be the savior the team is looking for.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: