As the Houston Rockets’ 2025-26 season heats up, their front office is making some peripheral roster moves.
Per a new team press statement, Houston has opted to waive power forward Tyler Smith, inked to a two-way deal, in order to sign free agent shooting guard Tristen Newton.
Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst, who has failed to draft solid young talent around nine-time All-NBA superstar power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo for years, selected the 21-year-old Smith with the No. 33 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-9 pro appeared in exactly 23 contests for Milwaukee in 2024-25, averaging 5.3 minutes per.
Smith was clearly not ready for primetime in head coach Doc Rivers’ rotations, and so was often sent down to log reps with the Bucks’ G League affiliate in Oshkosh, the Wisconsin Herd.
Across 15 contests for the Herd in 2024-25, Smith averaged 9.4 points on .429/.380/.789 shooting splits, 6.3 boards, 1.2 dimes, 0.9 blocks and 0.7 steals per bout.
When the Bucks inked free agent 3-and-D swingman Amir Coffey to an Exhibit 9 training camp contract (for which he seemed a bit overqualified, given his production in 2024-25 with the LA Clippers), Coffey’s performance eventually compelled Milwaukee to cut Smith, opening up a standard roster spot.
Smith joined Houston on his two-way deal last month. He had a robust showing in one game for Houston’s NBAGL affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, but did not play at all with the Rockets.
A 6-foot-5 combo guard, Newton was initially selected by the Indiana Pacers with the No. 49 overall pick in Smith’s draft, fresh off winning two straight NCAA titles with the University of Connecticut. He was voted as a consensus All-American First Teamer and the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player during his final collegiate season, 2023-24.
Newton agreed to a two-way deal with Indiana, but was cut in January 2025. The Minnesota Timberwolves picked him up off waivers, although he was ultimately cut prior to the 2025-26 season after his own lost training camp clash. He had been playing for Minnesota’s G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, before his Houston contract.
A Fresh Start for Newton
Newton played a grand total of eight NBA games as a rookie last year, averaging 2.0 minutes per.
Across five contests for Iowa and one game for Rio Grande thus far this year, he’s been averaging 27.8 points while slashing .538/.469/.818, along with 5.8 dimes, 5.7 boards, 1.7 swipes and 0.5 blocks.
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