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.

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.

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.

Tre Johnson’s picturesque outside shot features a high release point that is difficult for opposing guards to block. (Petre Thomas / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

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.

“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.

“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.

Tre Johnson led Dallas’ Lake Highlands High School to a Texas state championship as a junior. (Jonah Hinebaugh / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

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.”

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)