Wizards Still Learning How to Use Tre Johnson

Just like how he averaged a shade under 20 points per game in his one-and-done season with the Texas Longhorns, he's already found his way in the big leagues, jumping out to 17 points on 47.4% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point distance. Johnson isn't just relying on his jumper, nearly-guaranteeing three points if he's left open; he's putting the ball on the ground and scoring from all three levels, pulling up in the midrange and getting his shots up in the paint.

How do the Wizards Carve Out a Distinct Role for Johnson?

As entertaining as he's been in figuring out how to find the best bucket for himself out of isolation, Johnson would be better utilized as an off-ball threat. He's received his most open looks at the basket with simple relocations and fast break anticipation, and the Wizards would be doing him and themselves a favor in ensuring that he's getting easier buckets as the rotation's current sixth man.

Johnson's decorated college portfolio arrived in the SEC, where he led last season's toughest conference in scoring as a true freshman. He got plenty of attention there as someone worth drawing sets up for, it only took him a game to prove how valuable he can be with a simple screen.

The Wizards coaching staff understands his capabilities better than anyone, having crunched Johnson's impressive college tape in the pre- and post-draft process and spending the past month in learning how to equip the young asset this fall. He does have some juice as a pick-and-roll operator and self-playmaker, encouraging Washington head coach Brian Keefe to straddle the scorer between several roles.

"I think a mixture of both," he responded when asked as to whether he's more interesting in trying to tap into Johnson's ball-handling or his off-ball intrigue. "Obviously, we're seeing his scoring ability, his ability to put pressure on the rim...we're learning him too. That's the great part, this is only his third game. But he's been efficient in three games, pretty impressive for a young player."

Johnson Turns the Pressure Onto his Team

The Wizards, as Keefe indicated, still have a long way to go before they've come close to reaching what Johnson's capable of. He arrived with the organization as one of the highest-drafted of the bunch, as they took the professional scorer sixth overall just a few months ago.

He walked into the building with the pedigree to earn the coaching staff's attention as a building block, and he's only further backed up the front office's trust in him as an asset ever since they picked him up. Keefe and co. have gotten everything they could have asked out of Johnson through three games, and his first real test as a coach will lay in how he chooses to utilize and develop the star prospect.