Joan Beringer is heading into a summer league that could say plenty about where he stands with the Timberwolves.
The 17th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft spent his rookie season mostly learning the ropes and picking up lessons behind veteran center Rudy Gobert. Now, with Julius Randle and Naz Reid traded away, Beringer appears to be in line to become Chris Finch’s first big man off the bench.
That’s a significant jump for a player who turns 20 on November 11, but Minnesota has already seen enough flashes to believe the French center can become a real piece. Summer league should offer the next checkpoint.
The Timberwolves open play on Thursday, July 9, against the New Orleans Pelicans, and will play at least five games in Las Vegas. It will also be the first look for fans at second-round picks Isaiah Evans and Trey Kaufman-Renn in a Wolves uniform.
Beringer already has some summer league experience under his belt. Last year, Minnesota won its first four games and came up just short of the semifinals, and Beringer appeared in all four of those contests before sitting out the consolation game.
He averaged 23.1 minutes in those outings and put up 6.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.5 blocks while shooting 10-for-19 from the field. One game against 2025 10th overall pick Khaman Maluach turned into a foul-heavy battle, with the two combining for nearly as many fouls, 13, as points, 14.
This time around, Beringer should be more settled and more comfortable. At 6-foot-11, he has the kind of size and athletic tools that make him hard to ignore, and the expectation is that his numbers should climb with a year of NBA experience behind him.
There have also been reports that Minnesota is reluctant to put Beringer in trade discussions, which makes sense if the team views him as the eventual replacement for Gobert as its starting center.
The biggest thing to watch remains the fouls. His athleticism lets him challenge almost everything, but he still has to learn when to stay grounded instead of going after every block. In last year’s summer league, he picked up seven personal fouls in both his third and fourth games, and that issue showed up at times when he logged extended regular-season minutes as well.
Starting Thursday, Beringer should look like one of the more imposing players on the floor. Timberwolves fans wanted more of him last season, and now they’ll get a chance to see whether he can deliver in a bigger role.
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