Rudy Gobert 2.0? Timberwolves take French big man Joan Beringer at No. 17

New York Times

26-06-2025

MINNEAPOLIS — Joan Beringer is a native of France, a long-armed, lanky center who projects as a rim-running big in the NBA, a staunch rim protector and a demon on the offensive glass.
Sound familiar?
The Timberwolves took Beringer with the 17th pick in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday night. When the 18-year-old arrives in Minnesota, fellow countryman Rudy Gobert will be there waiting to mentor him.
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'Amazing,' Beringer said. 'I'm very happy, also to play with Rudy Gobert. It's an amazing feeling. I'm very happy.'
The Timberwolves were equally enthusiastic about the pairing.
General manager Matt Lloyd said a contingent of team officials flew to Chicago last weekend for a last-minute, private workout with Beringer to solidify their evaluation. Once they were finished and met with him in person, they came out of it believing he was the player they wanted to be there at No. 17.
'Joan is one of those rare cases where the best player available also had a fit,' Lloyd said. 'And we were sweating it. … It was a long night of waiting.'
Beringer will not turn 19 until November and didn't start playing basketball until he was 14. He is a raw prospect who will need time to develop, much like Gobert was when he came over from France in 2013 after being selected 27th overall by the Utah Jazz. However, the plan is for him to join the team at summer league in Las Vegas next month and be on the roster when the season opens in October. He will not be a draft-and-stash player, Lloyd said.
At 6 foot 11, Beringer is not quite as big as the 7-2 Gobert, but The Athletic's draft analyst Sam Vecenie describes him as a 'terrific athlete who moves fluidly' and 'gets off the ground quickly as a leaper.' He was ranked as the 13th-best player on Vecenie's board. He averaged 5.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 57 games for KK Cedevita Olimpija in Slovenia last season, his first season as a pro.
'There has not been a more rapid ascent from a single player in this class,' Vecenie wrote. 'A meteoric rise.'
Among his strengths, per Vecenie:
Areas for improvement:
'If I had to bet on his intangibles, I would. A-plus,' Lloyd said. 'His tools are an A-plus. Everything else will come with getting experience, gaining experience.'
The Wolves selected Beringer ahead of players such as Florida guard Walter Clayton, Illinois point guard Kasparas Jakučionis and Michigan big man Danny Wolf. They entered the draft with a priority on landing a developmental big man, as Gobert turns 33 on Friday and has no true center in the pipeline who projects as a rotation-level player.
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Now the Wolves have developmental players at every position, including Rob Dillingham at point guard, Jaylen Clark at off guard, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Josh Minott on the wing and Leonard Miller at power forward.
Beringer was euphoric about his fortune in landing on a team with a player who knows exactly what it's like to come to the United States from France at a young age and try to find his way. Gobert will be there to help him through the growing pains on the court and the acclimation process off of it.
'He's the best defender (in) the world,' Beringer said of Gobert. 'I'm a defender like him. Just to have a chance to learn from him is amazing.'
Lloyd said he saw similarities in personality between Beringer and Gobert, two serious-minded players with strong work ethics. Contrary to Gobert, Lloyd sees a player capable of stepping out and knocking down a 15-foot jump shot. Patience will be required with a player so young, both in terms of age and experience. However, the Wolves see someone who can be molded over the long haul.
The Wolves also have the 31st pick, at the top of the second round, on Thursday.
The fact that the Wolves were drafting in the first round on Wednesday night was further indication that the panic over the picks the Wolves gave up in the Gobert trade was a little overblown.
Three years ago, when president of basketball operations Tim Connelly traded for Gobert, there was outcry that they had sacrificed their future by sending four first-round draft picks (2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029) and a pick swap in 2026 to the Jazz as part of the package to get him. However, Connelly has been able to create opportunities to compensate for the lost capital.
He selected Clark in the second round in 2023, and he has emerged as a rotation-level player, a valuable pick since the Wolves did not have a first-round selection that season.
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Last year, Connelly grabbed Shannon at No. 27 and also traded into the top 10 to get Dillingham at No. 8. He then got a protected first-rounder for this season in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade, and with a bit of luck from the Detroit Pistons making the playoffs, got No. 17 in this year's draft.
So, in the three drafts since he allegedly flushed the future down the toilet by sending all those picks out, Connelly has added a rotation player in the second round and three first-round picks.
'Any sort of assertion that we don't have assets is incorrect, and we're going to see it in summer league,' Lloyd said.
Meanwhile, Gobert was named the 2024 NBA Defensive Player of the Year and has been a major part of back-to-back runs to the Western Conference finals.
'I think his willingness to get into the draft and be aggressive, Tim that is, works in our favor,' Lloyd said. 'Because more likely than not, we're going to pick the right guy and we're going to place him in the player development program. And that's not like a subtle brag or anything, that's just the record. We're going to put him in the player development program that's produced Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, and we should get a good result.'
As has been exhaustively reported, the Wolves were in on talks for Kevin Durant before he was traded to the Houston Rockets last week. That signaled a willingness to be aggressive and chase a star player to pair with Anthony Edwards.
According to team sources, the Wolves withdrew from those conversations when they got word that Durant did not want to come to Minnesota, meaning that reports of an offer of Rudy Gobert, Donte DiVincenzo, Rob Dillingham or Terrence Shannon Jr. and the 17th pick were inaccurate.
The Wolves were never going to pay that much for a 37-year-old entering the last year of his deal, even though they knew Durant would be a perfect fit next to Edwards, because everyone in the league knew that Phoenix had to trade him.
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When Durant went to the Rockets, the immediate assumption was that the Wolves would remain aggressive in pursuit of another big name. There was anticipation in the fan base coming into Wednesday night that Connelly would pull off another stunner of a deal to get an established stud, perhaps by dangling the No. 17 pick as part of a package. However, all indications are that, after the Durant dream died, there wasn't much out there in terms of big swings to take.
Lloyd said Connelly was on the phone all day looking for deals, but when Beringer was there, they couldn't pass him up.
'We tried to move up, move down, move back, move forward and sideways,' Lloyd said. 'It just fell to where the guy we wanted was there.'
As Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez take over in earnest, they have put forth a message of long-term sustainability as the priority. Other new ownership groups have liked to make big splashes right away. Still, the Wolves have already made several significant moves since Lore and Rodriguez came aboard as limited partners in 2021. Connelly was hired away from Denver, trades were made for Gobert, Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Julius Randle and DiVincenzo.
'We don't feel the need to, like, make any big changes,' Lore told The Athletic. 'It's continuing to keep continuity and then look to get better in the same way that we have been over the last few years.'
Connelly has been as active as any front office leader in his three previous draft nights, and the lack of a move for a veteran on Wednesday night does not preclude them from making a trade later. The Wolves will fall below the second apron once the new league year begins in July, which will give them a little bit more flexibility to execute trades.
However, much of their focus in the coming days will be on clarifying the situations of three important rotation pieces. Randle and Naz Reid have player options for next season, but could become free agents. Reid has already said he will opt out and become a free agent, but the Wolves remain confident that they can reach a deal to keep him in Minnesota, sources said.
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For Randle, it remains unclear what route he will take. He could opt into the last year of his contract for $31 million. He could opt out and become a free agent, but it is unlikely he would get anywhere close to that on the open market. Or, he could reach a multiyear deal to stay with the Wolves, likely at an annual number a little smaller, but with some long-term security, similarly to what Gobert did before last season.
Alexander-Walker is the other Wolves vet up in the air. He is a free agent but is expected to get an offer elsewhere that will price him out of Minnesota.
(Photo of Joan Beringer: Jeff Haynes / NBAE via Getty Images)