Draft Profile: Tre Johnson has star potential, but he's not a sure thing

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When the it comes time for the Utah Jazz to make their first selection of the 2025 NBA Draft -- the No. 5 overall pick -- one of these three players will likely be available; Tre Johnson (Texas), Ace Bailey (Rutgers) or VJ Edgecombe (Baylor).

So today we begin the first of a three-part series, diving into what these players would offer as a prospect, based on conversations with scouts, executives, coaches and my own evaluation.

Before Johnson ever entered the collegiate ranks, he was known by scouts around the country because of his size and scoring ability. He was one of the top recruits of his class before deciding to join the Longhorns at the University of Texas.

Strengths:

In his lone collegiate year, Johnson proved that his scoring ability was as advertised. He's a smooth and fluid shooter who can make shots off the dribble or in catch-and-shoot situations. He shot 39.7% from deep at Texas at a good volume (6.8 attempts per game). He's also not deterred by finding ways to score inside the arc and has a nice fadeaway and step-back and even has good touch on floaters.

His ability as an off-ball scorer is just as impressive as his ability on the ball. He is great at using screens and cutting. He's quick and makes fast decisions and knows when to use his movement to create an advantage.

As a ball-handler he's skilled and again makes fast decisions and can create for himself, which seems to be his preferred method of scoring. He can shake defenders and is crafty with the ball. He said that his favorite player growing up was Kevin Durant, but that as he got older, he started to try to mold his game after guys like Devin Booker and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Seeing the way that he is crafty with the ball but also has an eye for scoring, it makes sense that he was watching a lot of those players.

Johnson said that he loves tough coaching and that he really wants to prove to be a complete two-way player. The one thing he said at the NBA Combine in May that stood out to me was that he knows the tedious monotony that it takes to improve and win, which is the exact lesson that Jazz head coach is trying to drill into the team's already young roster.

"It's more of a mental thing," Johnson said. "Just being able to do the same thing over and over."

Out of the gate, Johnson looks more like a shooting guard than anything else, but he is a good passer and he considers passing to be the most underrated part of his game. He will probably develop into a combo guard, something that a number of people have indicated Johnson wants to be. In some interviews, Johnson has said that he wants to be a point guard. Though his strength and skills are not where they would need to be to take on that responsibility, it could be a good thing that he's thinking about it.

According to sources with knowledge of the situations, Johnson is a very good teammate who shows early leadership skills and in particular is good at picking up his teammates when they are down and encouraging them. He's smart, loves basketball, loves breaking down film and understands that he's not yet the player that he has the potential to be.

Weaknesses:

There's no doubt that the two biggest weaknesses in Johnson's game are his defense and his attitude.

As the Jazz beat writer, I've spent a great deal of time evaluating body language on the court over the last couple of years because it's a component of understanding young players and how they handle adversity and it's also something that NBA coaches place a lot of value on.

Johnson has a tendency to take no-calls or what he perceives to be unfair calls personally. He will give less or worse effort after he feels like he's been slighted. The same can be said after he makes mistakes. When he makes a mistake, it is often compounded by poor body language and lack of effort which leads to bad situations for his team on the other side of the ball, or blown plays.

He's going to be headed into a world where he is no longer the best player and he won't get benefit of the doubt. He'll have to prove himself over and over and he will make mistakes every day and he needs to learn to be ok with that and be able to move on in a split second.

Defensively, Johnson is weak physically and he does not give enough effort. Gaining strength is going to be necessary for his overall game and will help with some of the deficiencies he has at the rim and in every other aspect, but he will need to grow and gain strength to have any hope of growing on the defensive end.

He has been told by NBA personnel that he needs to improve on the defensive end and he has said all the right things when it comes to growing as a defender, but until we see it in practice, there's no way to know what he will become on that side of the ball.

Overall profile:

Johnson, as a scorer, passer and overall offensive player has star potential. He is unafraid, motivated and sure of himself in the same way that a number of other players have been who have gone on to become All-Stars.

That being said, Johnson will have a major learning curve in the NBA and is going to have to change some of his tendencies and prove that he can be a complete player, which is not a guarantee.