Minnesota Timberwolves coach impressed by ‘huge’ second round rookie set for NBA Summer League debut

Max Lefevre speaks on ‘super good to be around’ Rocco Zikarsky ahead of Summer League

The Timberwolves will kick off their 2025 Summer League journey with a matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Zikarsky will likely earn good minutes under assistant coach Kevin Hanson. Ahead of the anticipated matchup, the 18-year-old received immense praise from another coach of the T-Wolves, Max Lefevre.

“First impressions, he’s huge,” Lefevre told the media. “That is a big human being. Super nice kid, got a good sense of humor, good feel for who he is, what he needs to work on, the road ahead, he’s super good to be around.”

Now, that’s great praise for Zikarsky. He will be sharing the court with No. 17 in the draft Joan Beringer, who blew away Timberwolves president Tim Connelly.

Who is Rocco Zikarsky? Minnesota Timberwolves’ second-round pick

Oftentimes, second-round picks hardly manage to carve out a successful career in the NBA. Of course, there are exceptions to this, such as Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic.

Coming to Zikarsky, the Timberwolves rookie’s standout quality is his 7’2″ physique. Being a center, he could potentially find a rotation role on Chris Finch’s roster come the regular season.

As for his prior experience, Zikarsky didn’t play in the NCAA, but he spent two seasons playing for the Brisbane Bullets in the NBL.

During his time in the NBL, he averaged 3.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 0.3 assists per game for the team. The numbers may not pop out of the box score, but let’s not forget he’s a second-round pick.

It will be interesting to see if Zikarsky also works on his three-point shot, as he attempted just six shots from deep during his time in the NBL.