The Minnesota Timberwolves drafted high upside, big man Joan Beringer back in June. However, Beringer hasn't played much, averaging 4.1 minutes, appearing in nine of the Wolves' 14 games. All of Beringer's 38 total minutes have come during blowouts. After the Timberwolves' latest game against the Dallas Mavericks, Finch spoke to Beringer's growth.
“He’s right on track, Finch said. Right now, it’s a bonus when we can get him these types of minutes. You can see him get a little more comfortable with the speed of the game, the recognition, physicality, and all that kind of stuff. It just takes reps, we love where he's at... We are just keep bringing him along slow. He'll probably head down to Iowa at some point, so he can get some real good run and some extended minutes. That experience and exposure will be huge for him when he comes back up."
Chris Finch on where Joan Beringer is at in terms of development
“He’s right on track, right now it’s a bonus when we can get him these types of minutes, you can see him get a little more comfortable with the speed of the game, the recognition, physicality and all that kind of… pic.twitter.com/XkRvXOk5Nb
— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) November 18, 2025
Sending Beringer to the G League makes sense
Many Wolves fans have been hoping to see Beringer play real NBA minutes. Admittedly, I think this would be interesting, but listen, you can't play everyone. Beringer is still raw; he started playing basketball back in 2021, and just turned 19. With the Wolves' defense improving recently, the path to Beringer playing minutes feels slim.
What Beringer really needs to develop is more game reps, whether that's in the G League or the NBA. If the Wolves were a rebuilding team by all means, he would be playing meaningful NBA minutes. However, the Wolves aren't, thus sending him to the G League is logical.
It's unclear how long a stint Beringer will have in Iowa. Last year's first-round picks, Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr., played two and four G League games, respectively. Given how raw Beringer is, though, I expect this stretch to be longer. That's purely speculative, of course.
The Wolves have played nine teams with a below .500 record so far this year, beating all of them. As Minnesota's schedule toughens up, it makes even more sense for the Wolves to send Beringer to the G League for a period of time.
Beringer is an athletic center who is a gifted rim protector and lob threat. Still, he needs to adjust to the pace of the game, work on his one-on-one defense, and offensive positioning. The G League will help a lot in these areas. As mentioned earlier, Beringer just needs to get some game reps, and that's hard to do on a competitive team.
Ultimately, this decision might not be universally popular among Timberwolves fans, but it will benefit his development greatly.