As expected, Joan Beringer didn’t play much this season as a rookie. Most believed it would be somewhat of a redshirt season for the 17th overall pick, as he turned just 19 on November 11 and hasn’t even played the sport all that long.
He wasn’t drafted for the 2025-26 season, though. The Minnesota Timberwolves selected him, knowing that his potential could make him a great eventual successor to Rudy Gobert.
Recent reporting from The Athletic says that while the Wolves are interested in Giannis Antetokounmpo, they are considering Beringer to be off limits.
Yes, Giannis will be 32 a couple of months into next season, but he’s still one of the league’s most talented players and a two-time MVP. The team’s bold level of belief in the young Frenchman should certainly lead to the expectation that he will have a larger role next season.
Beringer showcased his potential in minimal playing time as a rookie
Chris Finch is a great coach, but he also hasn’t necessarily shown much trust in rookies while with Minnesota. The Timberwolves feature three frontcourt players in Gobert, Julius Randle, and Naz Reid, who all command a lot of playing time. Those three combined to miss only 14 games total, and that caused there to not be much of a need to play Beringer for much of the year.Â
His rookie year consisted of just 40 games for a total of 314 minutes in the regular season. Part of the year even saw him sent down to play with the Iowa Wolves, where he made 11 regular season/Tip-Off Tournament games. Even with the small amount of NBA playing time, Beringer showed enough to excite the fans.
Per 36 minutes, Beringer posted solid averages of 17.9 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks. Now, you should take what happens in a team’s regular season finale with a grain of salt, but fans couldn’t help but smile watching him score 24 points, grab 13 rebounds, and block 7 shots in 31 minutes.
The 5.4 fouls per 36 minutes isn’t pretty to see, but again, Beringer has so little experience playing basketball that you’d have to believe that with more playing time, he’ll learn not to try to block every shot attempt.
It seems as if the Timberwolves will trade Randle this offseason, which would free up a spot in the frontcourt rotation. That would depend on Minnesota not acquiring a frontcourt player in exchange for the three-time All-Star or in any other deals that they may make.Â
Beringer and other first-round picks receive four-year deals on their rookie contract. After the third season, the player and team can work out a rookie scale extension, or else they will enter restricted free agency.
If the team believes in him so much that they don’t want to include him in a trade for a star, I believe they have to start playing him more to have more evidence as to whether they want to give him some type of extension in the 2027 offseason.
I’m expecting to see that happen next season, and we will have more evidence if he can be another cornerstone piece for the club alongside Anthony Edwards.
Add us as a preferred source on Google