Selected with the 17th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Joan Beringer has mostly been settled on the bench this season. Of late, the rookie big man has seen a little more time, but often his action has come in garbage time. It hasn’t helped that the Minnesota Timberwolves’ three main frontcourt pieces in Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid, and Julius Randle rarely (or in Randle’s case never) miss games this year.
Two of the three were unavailable in Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. That thrust Beringer into the starting lineup for the first time in his career. While Beringer has shown flashes on both ends in his recent outings, Sunday was a reminder that the Frenchman still has a long way to go.
Joan Beringer fouls out in first career start
Just 19 years old (and 18 when he was drafted), Beringer wasn’t expected to have a large role for Minnesota this season. With Gobert now 33, he was billed as the successor to The Stifle Tower at the center position for the franchise.
Beringer has mostly exceeded expectations when he has been given an opportunity. This is a player who doesn’t even have much experience playing the sport. Against Philadelphia, the Timberwolves were without Gobert for just the third time (second time due to a one-game suspension and Reid for the first time (right shoulder soreness). It set the way for Beringer to take part in likely the most important game of his young career this year.Â
Instead, he played for 16:51 of game time, the third-most Beringer has played in an outing. Foul trouble did not allow the neophyte to remain on the court for all that long. It took all of 38 seconds for Beringer to pick up his first personal, and his second came with 7:53 remaining in the opening frame.Â
That forced him to sit out the rest of the period. Returning to open the second, it took one minute for Beringer to commit his third foul. His fourth came during the third quarter, and he committed two more in the fourth, fouling out with 4:37 to go in what was a blowout loss for the Wolves.
It certainly would have been understandable if Beringer had difficulty remaining disciplined on defense if Joel Embiid were in the lineup for the 76ers. Embiid has forced much more experienced centers to get into foul trouble. The 2022-23 MVP missed his fifth-straight contest, though, with a right leg injury.
The final stat line for Beringer in his first career start is seven points (2-2 from the field, 3-4 from the foul line), three rebounds, and six fouls.
Fouling has been an issue in limited playing time
Sunday night was Beringer’s 29th appearance for the Timberwolves, and he has now played a total of 202 minutes. So, not exactly a large sample size, but within the positives that he has shown on the court, the fouling issue has been evident.
After fouling out against the Sixers, Beringer has now committed 34 fouls on the season. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but again, there’s not a lot of time for him on the court. He has now committed 6.1 fouls per 36 minutes, which is a gargantuan number. Only Myron Gardner of the Miami Heat, Dylan Caldwell of the Sacramento Kings, and Isaiah Jackson of the Los Angeles Clippers (formerly the Indiana Pacers) have played more minutes and been called for more fouls per 36.
It’s nothing to get super concerned with if you are a Timberwolves fan. Again, Beringer was seen as a project entering the league and has shown why he may be an impactful player in the future. The concern would be if Gobert commits another flagrant foul because the result would be a two-game suspension (the same goes for any flagrants after that as well). With Minnesota jockeying for playoff positioning nightly, that’s something they can’t afford.