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Wizards’ Tre Johnson names 1 bold goal for rookie season
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- Wizards’ Tre Johnson names 1 bold goal for rookie season
Tre Johnson smiles while holding basketball in Wizards jersey
The post Wizards' Tre Johnson names 1 bold goal for rookie season appeared first on ClutchPoints .
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Washington Wizards open their preseason slate against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, which will be their latest showcase of a potential future star.
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Rookie guard Tre Johnson , whom the Wizards picked No. 6 overall in June's draft, will play his first game since Summer League. The University of Texas product is coming off a SEC Freshman of the Year campaign, but his mind is now on his first NBA season.
Johnson has his sights set on one statistical goal .
"I just want to shoot 90 percent from the free-throw line," he revealed after Tuesday's practice.
When asked why that's his focus, he said "'Cause I didn't do it in college. I was doing it my whole life, but I got away from it in college."
Indeed, Johnson shot 87.1 percent from the charity stripe as a freshman with the Longhorns last season after posting a 90.5 percent clip as a senior at Link Academy High School in Branson, Missouri. The 19-year-old is only two years removed from hitting 90-plus percent, but he'll join rare air if he does so as an NBA rookie.
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Collegiate Basketball Hall of Famer Ernie DiGregorio (90.2 percent) is the only rookie in league history to hit that benchmark (min. 125 free throws made per 82 team games), which he did for the Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers ) in the 1973-74 campaign, via StatMuse. Collegiate and Pro (Naismith Memorial Basketball) Hall of Famer Chris Mullin is second-best at 89.6 percent for the Golden State Warriors in 1985-86.
While reaching that goal would be a notable achievement for Johnson, the priority is to get to the line. The Texas native ranked 21st in the SEC with 4.2 free-throw attempts per game last season, behind peers such as Jeremiah Fears (fourth, 6.3) and Collin Murray-Boyles (fifth, 5.9), per ESPN. The New Orleans Pelicans drafted Fears No. 7 overall out of Oklahoma, and the Raptors took Murray-Boyles No. 9 out of South Carolina.
Johnson also ranked seventh in free-throw percentage and first in points (19.9), so he was still elite in other ways. But making 90 percent of his free throws while also finishing top-10 among rookies in average attempts would show that he's improved both his rim pressure and free-throw efficiency since his collegiate campaign.
That journey starts on Sunday. While Johnson's preseason stats won't count toward the regular season, showing his charity stripe acumen right away would be a positive step.
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CJ McCollum names 1 thing Wizards are elite at
Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Fellow guard CJ McCollum, who Washington officially acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans on July 6 for a package including guard Jordan Poole and wing Saddiq Bey , is at the other end of his career. The 13th-year veteran is on an expiring contract and likely isn't part of the team's future, but he brings experience to the NBA's second-youngest squad , per Bookies.com.
McCollum, who has averaged at least 20 points per game in 10 consecutive seasons, will be a safety valve for the Wizards' offense. At the same time, the former Most Improved Player is already providing a perspective about the organization that fans can feel good about.
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McCollum offered his first impressions of it since arriving over the summer after Tuesday's practice.
"They've been great in terms of communication, organization, structure. They're probably one of the most organized organizations I've been a part of in terms of the cadence and communication, how the team works, everything they use, the resources they have," he said. "The staff is here all day. They're here from 7 a.m. till like 3 [p.m.], which is crazy."
"Food is great, nutritionists. I did blood work early. I got my vitamins, I got everything that I need," he continued. "All the resources that you need to be successful are here, and they care. I think that's a really important factor, there's a huge care factor. Not just with rotation guys and guys that make a lot of money, but they care about the two-ways, exhibit-10 guys. You can see it in how they're treated."
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The latter point is evidenced by forward Justin Champagnie, who Washington signed to a four-year $9.8 million deal in March after inking him to a two-way contract in 2024. The 24-year-old had a breakout season highlighted by his 12.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in December. The club then rewarded him with a long-term commitment a month before the end of the campaign, showing the current regime's proactiveness.
McCollum also revealed whether his experience differs from what he's heard in the past.
"In years past, yes," the former Portland Trail Blazer admitted. "But in terms of what I've been hearing over the last few years, it's been pretty consistent. Obviously I know a lot of the guys that were here, and they echoed a lot of the same things that I'm discussing now."
That's a testament to Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger and Wizards general manager Will Dawkins, who took over in the spring of 2023. They haven't yet built a contender in Washington, but their leadership is changing the organization's perception around the league.
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Once the Wizards stack enough front-office wins, like landing elite collegiate scorers and signing breakout two-way players, the results will show in the standings. The key is that they're on the right path after years of losing records with a veteran core under the previous regime.
