After a rookie season with limited playing time, Joan Beringer is set for a much larger role in Year 2. By trading both Julius Randle and Naz Reid, the team is showing its belief in the youngster.
Realistic expectations are still needed, though. Expectations can’t be that Beringer will look like an All-Star-level center from the get-go.
In a sit-down interview with head coach Chris Finch, Britt Robson of the MinnPost asked about Beringer.
Robson: “So, we go to Joan, who still won’t be 20 years old when the season starts. I know that you, Tim (Connelly, Wolves president of basketball operations) and everybody in the organization is very bullish on him. Is there a tendency to get too excited, at this point?”
Finch: “Sure. Absolutely. You have to realize, as with all young players, there is going to be inconsistency. The way I’m looking at it is, is it self-imposed inconsistency or is it just young-player-growth inconsistency? I think with Joan you are certainly going to have the latter. The former, he plays so hard, he’s got incredible balance and energy. He’s got to figure out the balance of retaining the effort while regulating wanting to go after everything all the time.”
Translation: It’s probably too soon to think the finished product of what Beringer can become will happen this season.
Beringer will have his ups and downs in 2026–27
When selected with the 17th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Beringer was 4.5 months away from turning 19. He didn’t start playing basketball until the summer of 2021.
That is why it was understood that his rookie year would almost be like a redshirt year. He simply wasn’t experienced enough playing basketball to be thrown into the fire. Plus, it was unrealistic for him to receive a lot of minutes on a team that also rostered Randle, Reid, and Rudy Gobert.
Just a year later, Beringer is expected to be the first big man off the bench. With that huge increase in playing time from Year 1 to Year 2, the 6-foot-11 center will likely have games where the fan base envisions a successful future with him for the next decade-plus, and others in which he picks up three fouls in six minutes.
It would be great for Finch and the team if we see the latter such games not happen all that often.
Beringer has athleticism and explosiveness through the roof, but attempting to block nearly everything will lead to a bunch of fouls. While he didn’t play much in the NBA as a rookie, Beringer’s 5.4 fouls per 36 minutes show that he needs to tone down his fouling as his playing time increases.
This year’s roster may be better tailored to Beringer’s playstyle than last season’s. With the additions of LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga—along with a full season from Ayo Dosunmu—the Timberwolves will be pushing the pace more. That should lead to easy transition buckets for Beringer.
There are reasons for Timberwolves fans to be excited about Beringer’s being unleashed this season. The neophyte is a bundle of energy, and that will lead to some high-flying plays.
Expectations need to be tempered a bit, and those games in which he doesn’t make much of an impact will become less frequent as he gains more experience.
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