I spoke to Joan Beringer after shootaround in a muggy Thomas and Mack practice gym. I tried my hardest to get to know the 19-year-old Frenchman.
“What do you do for fun outside of basketball?” I asked, thinking he would respond with the typical NBA rookie answer of 2K, Madden, or FIFA.
“Umm, honestly,” Beringer said with half a smile. “It’s just basketball, you know?”
Beringer added that he enjoys spending time with his family. Maybe in the grand scheme of things, I should have expected the answer. After all, the night Minnesota drafted him, Matt Lloyd told the media that Beringer was fanatical about basketball.
“He’s like a ball of clay. He was the third youngest player in the draft,” said Lloyd. “He’s a very serious person, he’s very dedicated, he’s very focused.”
Throughout his first seventeen days with the Wolves, the assessment of Beringering as a serious person and unpolished seems to come up frequently when talking to the team.
Assistant coach Max Lefevre expanded on Beringer’s personality and play before the team left for Vegas.
“He wants to be great,” said Lefevre. “He’s super receptive to coaching, he’s asking questions, and really good questions. Obviously, he’s super raw, so we just have to make sure we cover the basics first, especially the language. … He’s getting things done by just pure talent and athleticism.”
A couple of days later, Beringer dominated defensively in his Summer League debut, tying a summer league record with six official blocks in the 98-91 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. He would add 11 points, eight rebounds, one assist, and a pair of steals.
As a result, the Wolves out-scored the Pelicans by eight while Beringer was on the floor.
“I mean that’s what it is, it’s just instincts, isn’t it?” said Summer League head coach Kevin Hanson. “He just has unbelievable timing, I saw it right off the jump, on both sides of the floor too, his ability to go catch lobs and has good hands. … That was impressive.”
Rob Dillingham echoed Hanson’s sentiment moments later when reacting to Beringer’s impressive debut.
“I don’t even have to explain, y’all seen it,” said Dillingham. “He’s like that since the first day. He plays hard, runs the floor, takes coaching well, doesn’t care about having the ball. He’s special, for sure.”
Beringer didn’t fill up the stat sheet in his second game, a 94-83 win over the Denver Nuggets. He finished with seven points, seven rebounds, three assists, and just one block. Still, he had a game-high +15 plus/minus. The highlight may have been a pick-and-roll alley-oop with Dillingham to score the first points of the game.
Beringer is playing this well off instincts and athleticism, which should lead to more cautious optimism about what he could become in the future. His natural ability to block shots, get rebounds, and score when needed has already popped in the first two games of Summer League.
Theoretically, as Beringer’s basketball knowledge and understanding of schemes and positioning grow, he could develop into a complete player, similar to his soon-to-be mentor, Rudy Gobert. However, Beringer’s potential as a shooter should set him apart from Gobert.
Beringer’s personality and raw skills give him a chance to make it in the NBA. He’s made the first step with his game. Beringer has transitioned from the Serbian league to the Summer League and has remained solid.
The next test won’t come for months until September, when training camp and preseason start. Then, he will likely see time in Iowa and in practice with the main roster. Beringer has a long way to go before we can determine whether it was a successful draft pick. Still, the initial reaction is that his instincts are spot on.
