The Sacramento Kings didn’t roll out much of their usual group on Tuesday night, but that opened the door for Tristen Newton to make the strongest case yet for his place in the mix.
In Sacramento’s 110-98 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, most of the team’s projected starters and main contributors were held out, leaving the preseason stage to G-League, training camp and two-way players. Newton took advantage in a big way. The recently signed point guard led the Kings with 15 points and also handed out three assists.
It was a major jump in playing time for Newton, who was brought onto the training camp roster in late September and had logged only five preseason minutes before this outing. Against Portland, he looked comfortable running the offense, showing a steady pace and repeatedly using pick-and-roll action to get downhill and create kickout chances for teammates.
He also made a habit of getting to the line, attempting 12 free throws. Newton only knocked down six, but the volume itself told the story: he was attacking and creating contact at the rim.
Newton entered the league as a second-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and has already spent time with the Indiana Pacers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets, appearing in nine NBA games overall. But his résumé in college was the part that made him such an intriguing name coming into Sacramento’s camp.
At UConn, Newton capped his schooling with back-to-back national championships from 2022-2024. He fit seamlessly into Dan Hurley’s motion-heavy offense and gave the Huskies real presence on the perimeter defensively.
During UConn’s first title run, he posted a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double in the championship game against San Diego State and hit all eight of his free throws. That postseason earned him a spot on the All-Final Four Team.
He kept piling up milestones from there. Newton became the first player in program history to record two triple-doubles in the same season, doing it against Marquette and Buffalo.
Then came an even bigger year: a Consensus First Team All-American nod in the regular season, another dominant March run, and NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors. He also reached 2,000 career points in the win, a fitting finish to his time in Storrs, CT.
For Sacramento, the backcourt is crowded, which makes Newton’s path to meaningful minutes an uphill climb. Still, his steady production Tuesday gave the Kings something useful to file away. He also brings familiarity with Sacramento’s late first-round pick Alex Karaban, with whom he won both national titles at UConn.
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For a Kings team still sorting out its regular-season rotation, that kind of early momentum matters. Injuries have left room for someone to push into the conversation, and Mogbo has done enough to make his case for minutes before the games start to count, even if the final answer is still being sorted out. [Read more 🡒]