Indiana Pacers Waive Guard Tristen Newton To Open Two-Way Slot

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers have waived guard Tristen Newton, who was on a two-way contract. The team announced the move Wednesday afternoon.

The transaction became official at 5 p.m. Eastern Time, which is less than two hours after Newton finished up a G League performance for the Pacers affiliate team, the Indiana Mad Ants. He had 22 points, four rebounds, and eight assists in an overtime loss vs the Westchester Knicks.

Newton was the 49th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. The Pacers liked his do-it-all style, and Newton had a successful four-year college career. He won two national titles at UConn and had different roles on both championship groups. That versatility was attractive late in the second round —Indiana brought him in and agreed to a two-way deal, a contract type that makes it easy to shift a player back and forth between the NBA and G League.

For Newton, that has primarily meant G League stints. The Pacers have solid guard depth, and when they were banged up earlier in the season a different two-way contract ball handler filled in as Quenton Jackson was successful. So far, Newton has been active for just 11 NBA games and appeared in 5. He averaged 0.6 points and 0.2 assists per game for the blue and gold.

Most of his time came with the Mad Ants. He played in 14 G League games and averaged 16.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game while shooting 39.6% from deep.

Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files reported that this move was Newton’s preference. The 23-year old guard has been with the Pacers organization for just over six months.

“He’s doing really well. It’s not easy to play college for that many years and then, G League style is so different from college… he’s handling it well,” Mad Ants wing Kyle Mangas said of Newton earlier this season. “He’s shown he can do a little bit of everything. Make the three, create off the bounce, I think he’s an underrated defender too.”

What does this move mean for the Pacers?

Indiana now has an open two-way contract slot. Two-way contract players make half of the NBA’s zero years of service minimum salary, which is $578k this season. They don’t carry a cap hit, however, so the Pacers have no salary cap penalty for this waiver.

Newton will become a free agent on Friday if he isn’t claimed by another team on waivers. There is a chance of that since the young guard was a recent draft pick, but that won’t change anything for the blue and gold. The Pacers will be looking to bring someone in to replace Newton’s roster spot, and someone outside of the organization likely makes the most sense — perhaps a guard to fill Newton’s role and abilities directly.

Indiana has been getting healthier and haven’t needed their two-way contract players as much in recent weeks. The Mad Ants, meanwhile, wrap up a road trip on Saturday before coming back home to Indianapolis.

The Pacers other two-way contract players, Enrique Freeman and Quenton Jackson, remain with the franchise. Early March is the deadline for teams to sign players to two-way contracts in the 2024-25 league year.