Timberwolves Awarded Tristen Newton Off Waivers

Minneapolis/St. Paul – The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has claimed guard Tristen Newton off waivers. In a related move, the Timberwolves have waived two-way guard Daishen Nix.

Newton, 6-5, has appeared in five games with the Indiana Pacers this season. He has also spent time with the Indiana Mad Ants of the NBA G League where in 10 games this year, he averaged 17.0 points on 42.4% shooting, including 41.4% from deep, 6.8 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.3 steals in 36.1 minutes per game.

The El Paso, Texas native played five years collegiately between Eastern Carolina University and the University of Connecticut, including winning two NCAA championships at UConn. In his final season at Connecticut, Newton was named the 2024 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player, 2024 Associated Press BIG EAST Player of the Year, 2024 Bob Cousy Award winner and was selected as a 2024 Consensus First Team All-American and 2024 Unanimous First Team All-BIG EAST. In five collegiate season, he averaged 12.8 points on 40.2% shooting, 5.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 31.6 minutes per game.

Newton was originally drafted by the Pacers with the 49th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

Nix, 6-4, has spent the last two seasons with the Timberwolves, appearing in 18 games while averaging 1.6 points and 0.5 assists per game. He also spent time with the Iowa Wolves where in 23 games throughout the last two years, he averaged 22.4 points on 38.7% shooting, 5.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists in 35.7 minutes per game. The Anchorage, Alaska native, has seen action in 99 career games (seven starts) with the Timberwolves and the Houston Rockets. His best season with the Rockets came during the 2022-23 season, where Nix saw action in 57 games (seven starts) and averaged 4.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He owns NBA career averages of 3.3 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 12.5 minutes per contest.