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Timberwolves claim Tristen Newton off waivers, waive Daishen Nix
Newton was a second-round pick by the Pacers this year.

The Timberwolves have claimed rookie guard Tristen Newton off waivers from the Indiana Pacers and waived guard Daishen Nix to make room, according to multiple reports. Both were on two-way contracts.

Newton, 23, was a second-round pick out of Connecticut this year (49th overall). He won back-to-back national championships at UConn, earning first team All-American honors last year. The 6'5", 190-pound guard had only appeared in five games with the Pacers this season, playing a total of eight minutes, but he's been productive in the G League. Newton has averaged 17 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 5.9 assists across ten games with the Indiana Mad Ants, shooting 41 percent from three. He was waived on Wednesday and has quickly landed with a new team.

Nix, 22, is in his fourth NBA season after going undrafted in 2021. He began his career with the Rockets and then landed with the Wolves last season. Nix appeared in 18 games for Minnesota across the last two seasons, playing 63 minutes. He also became known for his lavish outfits and good vibes on the Wolves' bench. This season, he had only appeared in three NBA games but was averaging 22.3 points, 7.6 assists, and 4.9 rebounds in the G League. His biggest flaw is that he's a career 29 percent three-point shooter at both the NBA and G League levels.

President of basketball operations Tim Connelly and the Timberwolves clearly think there's more upside with Newton, who is a year older than Nix but just a rookie after spending five years in college. Newton will split time between Minnesota's bench and presumably taking over Nix's starting role on the Iowa Wolves.

https://www.si.com/nba/timberwolves/minnesota-timberwolves-news/timberwolves-claim-tristen-newton-off-waivers-waive-daishen-nix-01jgq3saj5ne

Edit to fix

1. Is Nix done with Iowa after being released from his two way?

2. Worth noting that Nix could only be a two way through this season, Newton can be next season as well. Also Newton might be the plan for PG2 behind Dilly PG1 in 2-3 years.

Interesting. He asked to be moved? I don't see him being much happier when he's not playing here.

moss_is_1 wrote:Interesting. He asked to be moved? I don't see him being much happier when he's not playing here.

Indiana has Haliburton, Nembhard and McConnell.

We have the corpse of Mike Conley and an injured rookie project.

moss_is_1 wrote:Interesting. He asked to be moved? I don't see him being much happier when he's not playing here.

2nd round picks rarely play their rookie years. Especially when that pick comes after 45. As BJM said above, instead of a team 3 deep with PGs, he comes to a team with an aging Mike, (most likely off the team or at least the rotation by 26/27,) with only Dilly as a projected PG beyond this year. Newton has a legit chance to be PG2 next year with a solid showing in Iowa this year. Dilly likely gets the nod at PG1 and Mike falls to PG3. Or if Mike is PG2 then Newton will get the games Mike rests. No matter how you look at it, Newton got a better opportunity by changing teams.

It's interesting for a few reasons;

1. Nix has spent so long within our system, and appeared to be progressing well in most areas outside of shooting, that I thought he might be on the cusp of getting a real contract and maybe playing some actual minutes. He was also a highly touted high school prospect who had good physical tools, although more on the strength side than pure run/jump athleticism.

2. The Wolves must have had their eye on Newton during the pre-draft process, although they passed on several opportunities to actually take him.

3. Newton doesn't fit the usual type of prospect the Wolves, both pre and post-Connelly, target in the draft. This team appears to value high end physical tools first, then some combination of character and age (although age appears to play less of a part since TC came in). Generally they don't seem to value older highly productive college players without high end physical tools, which is what Newton looks to be (decent height/length for a PG but only a 32-inch vert).

Ultimately I doubt Newton is in the long term plans yet. It's a swing on someone they think might be down the line. But it's fascinating just how much he bucks the trend of what I thought their draft philosophy was. Although maybe the real takeaway in that regard is that draft philosophy disappears once the draft ends.

shangrila wrote:It's interesting for a few reasons;

1. Nix has spent so long within our system, and appeared to be progressing well in most areas outside of shooting, that I thought he might be on the cusp of getting a real contract and maybe playing some actual minutes. He was also a highly touted high school prospect who had good physical tools, although more on the strength side than pure run/jump athleticism.

2. The Wolves must have had their eye on Newton during the pre-draft process, although they passed on several opportunities to actually take him.

3. Newton doesn't fit the usual type of prospect the Wolves, both pre and post-Connelly, target in the draft. This team appears to value high end physical tools first, then some combination of character and age (although age appears to play less of a part since TC came in). Generally they don't seem to value older highly productive college players without high end physical tools, which is what Newton looks to be (decent height/length for a PG but only a 32-inch vert).

Ultimately I doubt Newton is in the long term plans yet. It's a swing on someone they think might be down the line. But it's fascinating just how much he bucks the trend of what I thought their draft philosophy was. Although maybe the real takeaway in that regard is that draft philosophy disappears once the draft ends.

During the draft we still had Karl, Mike’s decline wasn’t known, and Ant’s struggles were not known. Now we have all that info, and since he cost us nothing, I see this as a no brainer.

As a rookie, Newton has put up pretty similar G League stats as Nix.

Probably won't amount to much, but it's interesting.

I'm really curious to see him play in Iowa. To have a chance at earning an NBA rotation spot, I think he's going to have to prove he has PG skills including handling ball pressure, running an offense, and playmaking without turnovers. If he can do those things while continuing to hit 3s, I could see him being the 9th-10th guy in a future Wolves rotation.

I'm a little sad to see Nix go, I really liked how he had improved his athleticism and defense. Unfortunately, he never showed enough shooting ability to be viable at the NBA level.

shangrila wrote:It's interesting for a few reasons;

1. Nix has spent so long within our system, and appeared to be progressing well in most areas outside of shooting, that I thought he might be on the cusp of getting a real contract and maybe playing some actual minutes. He was also a highly touted high school prospect who had good physical tools, although more on the strength side than pure run/jump athleticism.

2. The Wolves must have had their eye on Newton during the pre-draft process, although they passed on several opportunities to actually take him.

3. Newton doesn't fit the usual type of prospect the Wolves, both pre and post-Connelly, target in the draft. This team appears to value high end physical tools first, then some combination of character and age (although age appears to play less of a part since TC came in). Generally they don't seem to value older highly productive college players without high end physical tools, which is what Newton looks to be (decent height/length for a PG but only a 32-inch vert).

1. Speculation: could Nix be a 10-day contract candidate?
2. Remember we had 53, and he was taken at 49. Sniped? Perhaps.
3. Honestly, I think they generally value height/length. It generally gets misconstrued as "they don't like PGs, but I think it's more that they value the length over the classic PG skills. Newton might be able to offer both?

Klomp wrote:

shangrila wrote:It's interesting for a few reasons;

1. Nix has spent so long within our system, and appeared to be progressing well in most areas outside of shooting, that I thought he might be on the cusp of getting a real contract and maybe playing some actual minutes. He was also a highly touted high school prospect who had good physical tools, although more on the strength side than pure run/jump athleticism.

2. The Wolves must have had their eye on Newton during the pre-draft process, although they passed on several opportunities to actually take him.

3. Newton doesn't fit the usual type of prospect the Wolves, both pre and post-Connelly, target in the draft. This team appears to value high end physical tools first, then some combination of character and age (although age appears to play less of a part since TC came in). Generally they don't seem to value older highly productive college players without high end physical tools, which is what Newton looks to be (decent height/length for a PG but only a 32-inch vert).

1. Speculation: could Nix be a 10-day contract candidate?
2. Remember we had 53, and he was taken at 49. Sniped? Perhaps.
3. Honestly, I think they generally value height/length. It generally gets misconstrued as "they don't like PGs, but I think it's more that they value the length over the classic PG skills. Newton might be able to offer both?

It might have been Dane Moore, or even Jim Pete who talked about when we signed Nix. Finch only wanted to look at PGs 6’4 or bigger.

winforlose wrote:It might have been Dane Moore, or even Jim Pete who talked about when we signed Nix. Finch only wanted to look at PGs 6’4 or bigger.

Just checked the combine measurements, Newton came in a quarter-inch taller than Nix.

Already 23
Good size for his position and defensive potential. Which are must haves to play PG for Finch.
Mediocre athleticism and handle.
Is shooting better from 3 in G League than he did in college.
Shot looks okay so maybe it was a shot selection issue?

Worth a flyer. Better shot at sticking than Nix who was in no way shape or form a PG.
Asked out of his contract but maybe saw Indiana with 3 PGs already locked up longterm and didn't see a future there.

With Dilly out 2-3 weeks maybe he gets a few minutes if he can pick up the system?

Now go upgrade Jesse Edwards.

younggunsmn wrote:Already 23
Good size for his position and defensive potential. Which are must haves to play PG for Finch.
Mediocre athleticism and handle.
Is shooting better from 3 in G League than he did in college.
Shot looks okay so maybe it was a shot selection issue?

Worth a flyer. Better shot at sticking than Nix who was in no way shape or form a PG.
Asked out of his contract but maybe saw Indiana with 3 PGs already locked up longterm and didn't see a future there.

With Dilly out 2-3 weeks maybe he gets a few minutes if he can pick up the system?

Now go upgrade Jesse Edwards.

Edwards actually looked pretty good defensively in the G. I would be fine giving him the rest of the year and seeing where he is at after summer league.

Klomp wrote:

shangrila wrote:It's interesting for a few reasons;

1. Nix has spent so long within our system, and appeared to be progressing well in most areas outside of shooting, that I thought he might be on the cusp of getting a real contract and maybe playing some actual minutes. He was also a highly touted high school prospect who had good physical tools, although more on the strength side than pure run/jump athleticism.

2. The Wolves must have had their eye on Newton during the pre-draft process, although they passed on several opportunities to actually take him.

3. Newton doesn't fit the usual type of prospect the Wolves, both pre and post-Connelly, target in the draft. This team appears to value high end physical tools first, then some combination of character and age (although age appears to play less of a part since TC came in). Generally they don't seem to value older highly productive college players without high end physical tools, which is what Newton looks to be (decent height/length for a PG but only a 32-inch vert).

1. Speculation: could Nix be a 10-day contract candidate?
2. Remember we had 53, and he was taken at 49. Sniped? Perhaps.
3. Honestly, I think they generally value height/length. It generally gets misconstrued as "they don't like PGs, but I think it's more that they value the length over the classic PG skills. Newton might be able to offer both?

It's possible for Nix on a 10 day, although I don't think he was quite at the point where he was worth an actual contract. Although I don't honestly think Garza is worth an NBA contract either so.

It's also possible he was "sniped", although I still have no idea what happened in the 2nd round or what we ended up with that night.

You could be right about length. It appears to me that they valued positive wingspan to height ratio (how much longer is your wingspan compared to how tall you are) which Newton didn't fit either at only a +2, although it could be a positional thing too where they have an average wingspan per position and judge it based off that. I'd assume Newton would be a positive on that scale, although realistically Rob doesn't fit either school of thought so it could be a moot point.

Jaylen Nowell or Shake Milton?

minimus wrote:Jaylen Nowell or Shake Milton?

Sure hope not.