The NBA Draft may be in the rearview mirror, but the spotlight is already shifting to Summer League, where the 2026 class will get its first run with new teams and a handful of 2025 picks will try to prove they belong in a bigger role.
For second-year players, this stretch in Las Vegas can matter just as much as it does for the newcomers. It’s a chance to show growth, earn trust and put a rough rookie year behind them. For a few members of the 2025 class, that opportunity couldn’t come at a better time.
Beringer is one of the names to watch. The No. 17 overall pick played in 40 NBA games as a rookie and made three starts, averaging 3.7 points and 2.3 rebounds while shooting 66.3% from the field in 7.9 minutes per game.
He flashed his best all-around outing on Jan. 17 against the San Antonio Spurs, when he posted 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks while going 5-of-6 from the floor in 23 minutes. His biggest statement came in Minnesota’s regular season finale against New Orleans, where the French big man put up 24 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists and 7 blocks on 9-of-12 shooting.
With the Timberwolves having traded away Naz Reid and Julius Randle over the offseason, Beringer is likely to be pushed into a much larger role in 2026-27.
Hansen also enters Summer League needing to show more. The Chinese big man appeared in 43 games and made one start as a rookie, finishing with 2.2 points and 1.5 rebounds while shooting 31% from the field in 7 minutes per game.
His top performance came on Nov. 18 against the Phoenix Suns, when he scored 9 points and added 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a block while shooting 4-of-7. The No. 16 overall pick in 2025, Hansen barely saw the floor in his first NBA season, and now he’ll need to make a stronger case for minutes on a team that reached the playoffs in 2025-26.
Jakučionis got more runway than either of those bigs in his rookie year. He played in 53 games and made 12 starts, averaging 6.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists while shooting 42.9% from the field and 42.3% from 3-point range in 17.8 minutes per game with Miami. Now with Milwaukee after being included in the Giannis Antetokounmpo deal, the No. 20 pick in the 2025 class may have an even bigger opening in year two.
Maluach is another second-year player who should be on the radar in Las Vegas. The No. 10 pick played 46 games and made one start for the Suns as a rookie, averaging 3 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 53.3% from the field in 8.9 minutes per game.
Late in the season, he started to get more run and showed what he could do, capped by an 18-point, 14-rebound performance in Phoenix’s regular season finale against Oklahoma City. The Duke product now has to build on that finish if he wants a real path to minutes for Phoenix and a chance to help a team with playoff aspirations.
In Other News...
Timberwolves Suddenly Linked To A Rumor That Changes Everything
Minnesotas roster already looks different after the front office moved on from Julius Randle and Naz Reid while bringing in LaMelo Ball, and the latest wrinkle only adds to the sense that this group is still being shaped. The Timberwolves have spent the summer reworking the pieces around Anthony Edwards, and any star-level addition would naturally change the conversation around what this team can be in the West.
A report from Sam Amick of The Athletic has now put a far bigger name into the mix, though the idea remains very much in rumor territory. For a franchise trying to keep climbing, even the hint of interest in a player of that stature is enough to turn heads, but the gap between speculation and something real is still wide enough to leave this as more intrigue than certainty. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Early Free Agency Move Says A Lot About Their Priorities
Minnesota moved quickly to bring back Bones Hyland in the opening stretch of free agency, another sign that the Wolves want to keep a certain kind of depth intact while they sort through the rest of their roster. Hylands one-year minimum deal keeps a useful bench scorer in place after he gave the team 8.5 points and 2.6 assists a night last season, and his speed gives the second unit a different look when Minnesota wants to push the pace.
The early return also comes with a wider roster question still hanging over the Wolves. Mike Conley and Kyle Anderson remain unsigned, leaving two familiar rotation pieces in limbo as the front office weighs its next steps, and Minnesota still has a clear need to address at power forward if it wants the group to feel complete. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Bombshell Could Quietly Change Everything For The Timberwolves
LeBron James latest career pivot has immediate ripple effects across the Western Conference, even if Minnesota is not in position to chase him. The Lakers star has told Los Angeles he intends to keep playing in 2026-27, but he wants to do it elsewhere, and that alone changes the backdrop for every team watching the West, including a Timberwolves club still shaping its own roster around salary constraints and future flexibility.
For Minnesota, the bigger takeaway may be what James leaving does to the Lakers rather than any fantasy of landing him. If Los Angeles loses that kind of centerpiece, its margin for error gets a lot thinner, which matters for a Wolves team trying to climb higher in the conference. Minnesota still has roster work to do, including a need at power forward, but it also has reason to believe that internal growth and bargain hunting can keep pushing it forward while a rival in the West deals with a major void. [Read more 🡒]