Wizards’ Alex Sarr, Keyshon George, Tre Johnson earned All-Star weekend honors

Washington The Wizards are in their third full year of rebuilding it was few victories, but abundant in development. That process was rewarded on Monday night, when the NBA announced that sophomore center Alec Sarrsecond-year wing Keeshon George and rookie guard Tre Johnson will compete in the 2026 Castrol Rising Stars Challenge, an annual All-Star Weekend event that highlights the league’s top rookies and sophomores.

The Wizards joined an exclusive companyaccording to the team’s social media.

“Washington sends three players to the Rising Stars game for the second time in franchise history and becomes the third team to send three more in a row (Philadelphia, Houston),” they announced. “Sarr joins teammate Bilal Coulibaly (2024-25) as one of five Washington players to attend multiple Rising Stars games (Hachimura, Beal, Wall). Johnson gives Washington its third consecutive season with a rookie, its longest streak in franchise history.”

Sarr leads the NBA with 2.1 blocks per game this season and ranks second among the 2024 draft class with 14.5 points per game in his career, while ranking ninth with a 0.3 Value Over Replacement Player (VORP). VORP is “an estimate of points per 100 TEAM possessions a player contributed above replacement level (-2.0), converted to team average and prorated over an 82-game season,” per basketball reference.

Sarr also ranks 40th in the NBA with 50.5 percent shooting (34.4 percent 3-pointers) and 32nd with 7.3 rebounds per game. The 20-year-old’s field goal percentage is 11.1 percent higher than his rookie clip, and his three-point percentage is 3.6 percent higher.

Meanwhile, George is averaging 15.5 points on 45.3 percent shooting (38.7 percent from 3-point range) with 5.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks, joining San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle as the only players 22 or younger to average five points or less. assists and one plus steals this season. Castle got the 4th overall pick in 2024, while George was the 24th pick.

Finally, Johnson is shooting 39.3 percent from downtown in 37 games and is the only rookie besides Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knuepel with 40-plus field goal percentage, 35-plus three-point percentage and 85-plus free throw percentage this season. The 19-year-old is also second behind Knuepel among rookies with 27 games in which he has made multiple 3-pointers.

Washington’s only first-round pick in the last three years not selected for the Rising Stars Challenge is rookie wing Will Rileywho was selected 21st overall in 2025. Coulibaly (No. 7 overall in 2023) made it in each of his first two seasons, Sarr (No. 2 overall in 2024) did it last season and this season, second-year guard Bub Carrington (No. 14 overall in 2024) while George made it last season (No. 6 overall 2024) 2025) succeeded this season. Riley is averaging just 14.3 minutes per game, the sixth fewest on the Wizards this season.

Conversely, Koulibaly is sixth in his draft class with 29.4 career minutes per game, while Carrington, George and Sarr are first (29.5), second (28.1) and fourth (27.5) in their class. Finally, Johnson is seventh in the 2025 class with 25.3 average minutes.

It’s a product of Washington prioritizing player development over winning, allowing its young core players to play through mistakes and gain experience as leaders on the floor. This philosophy intentionally resulted in a loss, as they finished second-worst in the NBA at 15-67 in the 2023-24 campaign, second-worst at 18-64 last season and dead last at 10-34 this season entering Tuesday night’s slate.

The 2023-24 season led to the drafting of Sarah, and last season led to the drafting of Johnson. If he finishes with the worst record this year, he’ll guarantee a top-five lottery pick this summer in a draft with superstar prospects like BIU’s AJ Dibantsa, Kansas’ Darrin Peterson and Duke’s Cameron Boozer, as well as second-string stars like North Carolina’s Caleb Wilston and Kelston Fewston.

The Rising Stars Challenge will take place on February 13 at 9:00 PM ET on the Peacock and will be played at the Los Angeles Clippers’ Intuit Dome.

Michael Winger praises Alex Sarr, Tre Johnson, Keyshaun George

Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger shouted out Washington’s rising stars during his “State of Monumental Basketball” press conference on Thursdayvia Monumental Sports Network.

“Because of the very hard work and dedication shown by our players and staff, Alex Sarr is having an All-Star season in my opinion. He’s becoming one of the most dominant big men in the league on both sides of the rim,” he said. “At just 22 years old, Kishavn has already become one of the more well-rounded players in the NBA. He is one of only 16 players in the league with his combination of points, rebounds and assists, and is the youngest on that list among the All-Star group.”

After praising Coulibaly’s consistent defensive performances against opposing stars and Carrington’s three-point shooting (40.5 percent this season), the winger had kind words for Johnson.

“Tre Johnson, a rookie, is off to an unprecedented start to his NBA career,” he continued. “Not far from the revered 50/40/90 mark, he has shown early signs of his development as a playmaker and defender, which is no surprise to those who have seen his work ethic.

50/40/90 refers to a shot distribution of at least 50 percent on field goals, 40 percent on 3-pointers and 90 percent on free throws. No rookie has ever finished a season with that stat line over an entire campaign, but Johnson has a chance. The former Texas Longhorn is currently shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 88.1 percent from the charity stripe.

It’s not surprising that the team president praised the “Wiz Kids,” but they deserved his public compliments. Going forward, the key for them is to maintain consistency and prove they deserve to be part of the organization when winning is the priority, which will begin next season.