One of the biggest problems for the Minnesota Timberwolves this season has been Rudy Gobert's subpar offensive production. He is struggling to finish with force and has had trouble securing passes. Sure, he bounced back against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, but we all know he hasn't looked good.
At the same time, Joan Beringer has been a bright spot for the Timberwolves. So far, Beringer is averaging 18.7 minutes, 7.1 points on 60.6 percent shooting from the field, while Gobert is averaging 29.9 minutes, 7 points on 41.2 percent shooting from the field.
If this trend continues, Beringer will cut into Gobert's minutes even more. And given how young Beringer is, there's reason to believe that his growth will continue on both ends of the floor.
Joan Beringer will earn more minutes if he continues to grow
Look, Gobert's offensive production likely won't be this bad. Plus, his defense and rim protection remain a vital part of the Wolves' success. There's no scenario where Gobert plays anywhere less than 20 to 24 minutes a game, but the minutes gap could close between the bigs, and Beringer could close more games.
Even if he bounces back, Gobert's offensive ceiling is pretty low. Beringer, on the other hand, could maximize the Wolves' offensive ceiling. His athleticism, ability to run the floor in transition, and sturdy hands give the Timberwolves' offense a different element. Teams already respect Beringer more as an offensive threat, and this makes everyone's life easier on offense.
Beringer has flashed an ability to attack for himself and score off the dribble. If he can do this a bit more, that could take his game to another level. He is a freaky athlete, so it's more than possible that this becomes a bigger part of his game.
In this scenario, Beringer could be a versatile offensive threat and be so much better than Gobert to the point where Chris Finch has no choice but to play him even more.
Gobert is still miles ahead of Beringer on defense, and he will still comfortably be better than Beringer no matter how the rest of this season plays out. For Beringer to further earn Finch's trust, his defense needs to sharpen up a bit. Frankly, since Beringer is already ahead of Gobert on offense, this area of growth is more important for him to earn a bigger role.
Beringer must work on his defensive positioning; in particular, he needs to cut back on over-helping. Furthermore, he needs to improve his one-on-one defense. These are reasonable areas of growth for Beringer, and he hasn't been totally awful in these areas so far.
If Beringer can prove that he can anchor a solid defense and elevate the Timberwolves' offense, then Finch will have to play him even more, which could lead to somewhat of a 50/50 split between the two bigs. It's a small sample size, but so far the Wolves' defense has been 21.7 points worse per 100 possessions with Beringer on the court. As such, it's vital for him to clean up some of his defensive issues to earn a bigger role.
Overall, though, Beringer is off to a strong start through seven games. If he can build on this start and improve on defense, then he'll cut into Gobert's minutes and become an even more important part of the Timberwolves' rotation.
Add us as a preferred source on Google