Timberwolves Make Joan Beringer Announcement on Monday

The Timberwolves posted on X on July 7 that Beringer was officially signed and will wear the No. 19 for the Wolves, who embark on the Summer League schedule starting Thursday against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Beringer has already won over one of his most important running mates, 2024 first-rounder Rob Dillingham, who was most impressed with Beringer from Summer League practices.

"The rookie cold," Dillingham said. "Joan solid. I'm not gonna lie, he's super solid, I like him."

Beringer is coveted for his deft hands under the basket as an early inside threat who could use his athleticism to become an inside-out offensive threat.

However, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly isn't putting that weight on the 18-year-old just yet and is largely leaning on him to enter the rotation as a defender.

"The thing that he can do now is guard," Connelly said in a June 26 post-draft news conference. "He's one of the rare elite athletes vertically and laterally, so I think he's going to hang his hat on defensive versatility. And offensively, we don't know what he is. Right now, he's a sprint-the-floor, he's a lob threat, offensive rebounds, kind of a garbage guy around the rim. What's really exciting, especially because we have such great coaches, is he's really malleable. However we want to develop him, we can develop him. It's just exciting to see a guy that has all these crazy tools and really no bad habits.

"Every time we watched him, we were kind of blown away with his instincts, especially for a guy that's barely played basketball," Connelly added. "Defensively, he was covering five spots. He's very raw, but really bright, and has developed at a pace that quite frankly, I've never seen for a guy that new to professional basketball. He was our guy when the night started and we were very fortunate he was there."