Chris Finch has built the Minnesota Timberwolves into a team that has sustained success the franchise had never reached before he arrived, and that’s why he’s in the conversation as the best coach in team history, alongside Flip Saunders. But one criticism has followed him, too: he hasn’t leaned on young players all that much.
That dynamic may be forced to shift this season, and Joan Beringer looks like the player who could push it there.
Beringer, who turns 20 on November 11, was the 17th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Because he has not been playing basketball for all that long, he entered the league as a developmental prospect with real upside, especially on defense. As a rookie, though, he barely got on the floor.
That was mostly a matter of the depth chart. Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, and Naz Reid were all ahead of him in the frontcourt and, for the most part, stayed healthy. Now that Randle and Reid are gone, the path opens up for Beringer in a major way.
Finch’s track record with young players has been limited. Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels both played plenty as rookies, but they already had established roles when Finch took over midway through the 2020-21 season. Edwards, of course, was the No. 1 overall pick, so his minutes were never really in doubt.
More recently, Leonard Miller and Josh Minott had their turns in Minnesota. Miller was traded to the Chicago Bulls in February and got regular minutes right away.
Minott logged time with the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets last season. Both flashed after leaving the Wolves, and Minnesota could use that kind of help now, especially with a hole at power forward.
Beringer is the clearest answer to that need. Finch can talk himself into Trey Lyles backing up Rudy Gobert, but Beringer brings the better rim protection, and the Wolves already saw enough from his 314 rookie minutes to know that.
The question now is not whether he has a role. It’s how big Finch is willing to make it.
Reid played 26.4 minutes per game last season as a reserve. Beringer may not need that kind of workload, but he is still positioned for a meaningful jump.
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Dosunmus case is pretty straightforward if Minnesota wants a steadier second unit. He has the kind of scoring and creation that can settle a bench group, and there is a real argument for using him as a sixth man rather than forcing him into a role that blurs the rest of the rotation. Jaylen Clark, Josh Green and Terrence Shannon Jr. are among the names in the mix if Finch goes that direction, which is why this decision feels like more than a simple preseason formality. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Still Have One Roster Problem That Could Derail Everything
The Timberwolves have already done most of the heavy lifting on their offseason roster, with Julius Randle and Naz Reid gone and LaMelo Ball in the mix, but the biggest remaining question is still a familiar one: how to sort out the frontcourt around Rudy Gobert. Chris Finch has made it clear that Jaden McDaniels is not simply being pushed into a full-time power forward job, and the plan is for him to keep a role much closer to what he had last season while still spending some time there.
Minnesota is expected to sort out the final shape of that arrangement by the end of training camp in September, and the answer matters because the Wolves are also trying to piece together a bench that can hold up over the long haul. Terrence Shannon Jr., Bones Hyland and Jaylen Clark are all in line to help fill rotation minutes, but the overall balance of the roster still hinges on whether McDaniels can slide into the right spots without creating another problem elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]