There is a lot of hype surrounding Joan Beringer as he enters his second year in the NBA. With both Julius Randle and Naz Reid no longer a part of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ roster, Beringer is expected to play a much larger role in Year 2.
Thursday saw the Timberwolves play in their summer league opener against the New Orleans Pelicans. Minnesota came out with a 105-92 victory. Fans were focused on how Beringer would look on the court, and he surely didn’t disappoint. Stan Van Gundy was on the call for the game and said this about Beringer.
“Beringer does the four R’s of things I think bigs have to do. Run, roll, rim protect, and rebound.”
Turning just 20 years old on November 11, Beringer checks all the boxes of what a team would want from a big.
Beringer’s tireless effort was seen throughout Thursday’s game
In Thursday’s game, Beringer filled up the box score to the tune of 18 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks in 25 minutes of game time. One of his rejections came with a clean block of Kobe Bufkin, who was going up for the slam.
Watching Beringer on the court showcases the limitless motor he seems to possess. The 6-11 center(although he started at power forward on Thursday) often ran hard to the rack on offensive possessions, maneuvered well on defense, and was relentless on the glass on both ends of the floor.
JOAN APPRECIATION POST. pic.twitter.com/eS3e4fvKyl
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) July 9, 2026
These are the qualities that are going to earn him more minutes once the regular season comes along. Chris Finch was in attendance for the excellent showing. He was interviewed by the Amazon Prime broadcast during the game. He had many positive things to say, but he did mention that Beringer needs to learn to stay out of foul trouble.
While he didn’t play massive minutes as a rookie, Beringer did average 5.4 fouls per 36 minutes. Van Gundy further brought up the foul issues when he went for an offensive rebound that he had no chance of getting. He was called for the foul (although Beringer finished with just two in 25 minutes).
Overall, though, there’s no other outcome but to come away impressed with Beringer’s performance. He’s still a neophyte, and with more reps, he’ll learn to avoid fouling. Rudy Gobert averaged 4.7 fouls per 36 minutes as a rookie and hasn’t averaged more than 3.5 in any of his following 12 seasons.
Fans will get to see more of the 2025 first-round pick on Saturday when they play the Denver Nuggets.
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