While the obvious primary reason for trading both Julius Randle and Naz Reid in the same offseason was to have the opportunity to acquire LaMelo Ball, it was also a vote of immense confidence in the Minnesota Timberwolves' second-year center, Joan Beringer.
Despite playing extremely limited minutes in his rookie year, he showed flashes of greatness. Notably, in game 82 of the regular season, when the Wolves' rotation sat out, Beringer put up 24 points, 13 rebounds, and a whopping seven blocks en route to a win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
With the departures of Randle and Reid, Beringer will be relied upon to provide the Wolves with consistent rotational minutes every night this season, and if he shows growth in these three areas, the Wolves could be looking at a future franchise-caliber big man.
Joan Beringer needs to cut back on the fouls
Beringer showed promise as an otherworldly defender with his nimbleness and fluidity on the perimeter, combined with being able to block an absurd number of shots. His demise, however, is that he's too often searching for the blocked shot, and it can cause him to either bite on pump fakes or go up too aggressively at a shot that isn't going to be blocked. This caused him to get in foul trouble quite often.
Last season, he averaged 1.18 personal fouls per game. On the surface, this doesn't seem too bad, but then you realize he only played 7.9 minutes per game. Per 36 minutes, this is 5.4 fouls per game, which is simply too much. He's an extremely gifted defender, but he needs to be on the court to show that, not on the bench due to foul trouble.
Beringer's stamina could improve
This one is subjective, but something that the majority of young big men have to deal with early on in their careers: adjusting to NBA minutes.
In Beringer's rookie year, he played above 20 minutes in a game only five times. This year, I'd expect that number to be significantly higher. He'll likely play around 15 minutes per game, and in the event that Rudy Gobert misses any time, he instantly becomes the starter, likely playing around 30 minutes.
He's the only backup big on the roster currently who will likely have Chris Finch's trust, with Rocco Zikarsky, Trey Lyles, and Trey Kaufmann-Renn probably not playing a single meaningful minute this season. He's going to have a crucial role on this team, and his body needs to be ready for the workload.
Beringer needs to get to the free throw line more
Beringer getting to the free-throw line at a respectable rate will be beneficial for his offense to take the next step. In his rookie year, he shot a decent 70.3 percent from the line. That's a welcome change of pace for what Wolves fans are used to seeing from their starting center at the line (sorry, Rudy).
In his limited minutes, he only got to the line 0.9 times per game. It would be nice to have someone at the center position semi-reliable at knocking down free throws. Regardless, it's imperative for Beringer to be able to get there consistently enough that it makes a difference.
I'm expecting a big jump from Beringer this year, and I think the entire Wolves organization is as well. If he can be as advertised, I believe he can be one of the best backup bigs in the league, and whenever Gobert's time as a starter is up in the future, Wolves fans will have no issues with Beringer taking the reins. Still, developing these three areas of his game would help him reach his ceiling.
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