It was unreasonable to expect Joan Beringer to be perfect in his first real NBA opportunity this season. After all, Beringer is just a second-year big man, and he won't turn 20 until November 11. Furthermore, Beringer only started playing basketball in 2021.
As he earned a bigger role with the Minnesota Timberwolves this season, the goal should always have been for him to become a quality backup big man. And that's exactly what he's been so far.
With seven games in the books, Beringer is averaging 18.7 minutes, 7.1 points, and 6.9 rebounds while shooting 60.6 percent from the field. There have been some bumps along the way, but generally speaking, Beringer has been impactful in his minutes. Again, that's all you can ask for.
Joan Beringer has been a quality backup big man for the Timberwolves
Beringer has primarily impacted the game through his energy. He has been one of the best offensive rebounders in the league, averaging 3.4 offensive boards per game. Indeed, according to Cleaning the Glass, Beringer ranks in the 100th percentile for offensive rebounding percentage. His ability to crash the glass at a relentless rate has given the Timberwolves extra possessions and opened up easy scoring opportunities for him.
Moreover, Beringer does a great job of running the floor and is a dependable lob threat due to his sturdy hands and elite leaping ability. Frankly, this skill set has allowed Beringer to provide more offensive juice than Rudy Gobert. Amid Gobert's struggles, we could see more of Beringer, considering the offensive boost he provides.
Defense has been a bit of a mixed bag for Beringer. On the positive side, he's cut back on his foul problems, which plagued him last season. He is averaging 3.6 fouls per 36 minutes, a decrease from his 5.4 last season. Beringer's blocks are down, but that's a product of him playing more disciplined defense. He has also held up well on switches.
However, Beringer's one-on-one defense, especially against physical players, needs to improve. He's also been caught out of position at times. These areas of growth are absolutely to be expected, though, and nothing about his game is overly concerning.
Saturday night was Beringer's biggest test yet. He got the start in place of Gobert, who was injured, squaring off against the Victor Wembanyama-led San Antonio Spurs. Encouragingly, Beringer made a strong impact offensively against the league's best defender, recording 12 points, five offensive rebounds, and two assists.
Now, Wemby erupted for 43 points with Beringer as his primary defender. But can we really fault Beringer for not containing him? Truly, few players can, and Beringer didn't make a lot of major mistakes. If anything, Chris Finch should've played more double coverage.
Despite the challenge and Wemby having a big night, Beringer continuously gave him everything he had, and his energy never wavered. That's encouraging, and this game, despite not being perfect by any means, showed that Beringer isn't a liability against top-tier teams.
As the season goes on, some of Beringer is only primed to get better on both ends of the court. All of this is to say that Beringer is making a positive impact, and his adjustment to regular NBA minutes is going about as well as you could realistically expect through seven games.
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