3 players Timberwolves fans need to watch closely during preseason

On Thursday, the Timberwolves announced their preseason schedule. It will begin on October 4 when they take on the Nuggets. They have six preseason games in all, with the final one against the 76ers on October 17.

Here are three players that the Timberwolves fanbase needs to focus on as the team tunes up for a heavily-anticipated 2025-26 season.

Johnny Juzang

Wolves fans may not be all that familiar with Juzang, as he spent his first three seasons on a Jazz team at or toward the bottom of the Western Conference. Undrafted in 2022 out of UCLA, Juzang was waived by Utah in the offseason and picked up by Minnesota on a non-guaranteed contract.

On a Timberwolves team that loves to shoot three-pointers, Juzang would fit in as a depth piece. The 24-year-old connected on 38.4% of his attempts from beyond the arc the last two years with a whopping 66.8% of his field goal attempts coming from long distance. Expect him to see ample playing time in the preseason so Chris Finch and company could get a good read as to whether he should earn a spot on the opening day roster.

Rob Dillingham 

The 20-year-old Dillingham is probably the player that the majority of Minnesota fans are most looking forward to watching in the preseason. The eighth overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft had an uneven rookie season where he did not receive much playing time, especially in the playoffs.

With Mike Conley turning 38 years old in about two months and coming off a lackluster postseason, Year 2 should be one where Dillingham plays a much more pivotal role. There could even be an opportunity for him to usurp Conley in the starting lineup at some point. The chance of that happening improves greatly if the wiry point guard performs well in preseason action. 

Joan Beringer 

The 17th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Beringer had his fair share of positive moments, particularly on the defensive end, in the summer league. As he is turning just 19 years old on November 6, and as someone who just picked up the sport a few years back, Beringer is still raw, especially on the offensive end.

It may be unrealistic for the 6-foot-11 center to be expected to play a large role right away this season. With the way the roster currently stands, though, Beringer may have to see minutes if any of Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, or Naz Reid were forced to miss time. While fans shouldn’t expect him to have 20-point outings in the preseason, seeing Beringer do a solid job of rebounding and rim protecting would give them confidence that the team wouldn’t suffer a huge downgrade if the young Frenchman needed to see minutes in the regular season.