Timberwolves take French big man Joan Beringer with 17th pick of NBA draft

Joan Beringer, the latest addition to the Timberwolves, didn’t start playing basketball seriously until about four years ago. But even before that he was familiar with his soon-to-be new teammate and fellow countryman, Rudy Gobert.

The Timberwolves decided to bolster their frontcourt depth with their first pick of this year’s NBA draft, selecting the 6-foot-11 Beringer at No. 17 overall Wednesday. Beringer, who most recently played in Slovenia, made his reputation thanks to defense, something he modeled after Gobert.

In a conference call shortly after the Wolves selected him, Beringer sounded excited at the chance to play with Gobert.

“He’s the best defender in the world, and I’m a defender like him,” Beringer said. “The chance to learn from him is amazing.”

After the Wolves made the pick, Gobert tweeted the French flag, among a few other emojis, welcoming Beringer to the team.

“I started watching Rudy Gobert when he was in Utah, how he protected the paint, how he contested shots and he has this presence on defense,” Beringer said. “I think we have some similarity in the game.”

Beringer said he had a workout with the Wolves and thought they might be interested because he performed well.

“It’s amazing to have this chance,” Beringer said. “It’s a blessing to be here with my family and friends. I had some difficult moments in my life, but to be here is really amazing.”

Defensive versatility and the ability to guard multiple positions are among Beringer’s strengths; on offense his game will be a work in progress. He can be a lob threat on pick-and-rolls as he develops the rest of his game.

“I will give everything for you. I will give my energy, my defense and I want to improve to be the best,” Beringer said. “… I’m very happy to have the chance to play for Minnesota.”

The Wolves stood pat at No. 17 after team President Tim Connelly moved around the board each of his previous three drafts with the Wolves. But the Wolves still have the No. 31 pick entering Round 2 on Thursday and could use that to make some moves.

Beringer will turn 19 in November and figures to need some development, especially on the offensive end, before he’s ready to contribute on a regular basis. Wolves General Manager Matt Lloyd said Beringer is a “ball of clay” the Wolves can mold in their player development program. Lloyd said the Wolves made a decision to consider Beringer after they had an in-person workout with him in Chicago late in the process. Lloyd credited Beringer’s agent Jelani Floyd with making that happen.

“We had to travel to go see him. But at the end of the day, it was worth it,” Lloyd said. “It was one of those throwback, old school, when I first started scouting workouts. We were able to get him in a high school gym and really close the book on the evaluation. He’s someone we’d been tracking for the entire season.”

Lloyd said the Wolves love Beringer’s speed and athleticism and that he should be able to switch onto smaller defenders without ceding an advantage.

“He’s already a functional basket protection vehicle, which is critical,” Lloyd said. “We think, based on some of the stuff we saw that he wasn’t able to do during the season in Slovenia, he’s going to have switchability. He’s just such a physical presence with his size and his length. He’ll be able to swallow up guys in switches. That’s a really exciting thing.”

On offense, Lloyd said a connection on the coaching staff in Slovenia told him Beringer had a better “15-foot-and-in game” than people think, better than he was able to show in Slovenia.

“There’s some capacity for growth there. He’ll be functional enough,” Lloyd said. “[Coach] Chris Finch likes to run all the dribble handoffs from the bigs and stuff. He’ll have a capacity to do that. It’s just gonna be a part of his natural growth and progression.”

Finally, Lloyd said the in-person evaluation let the Wolves get familiar with Beringer as a person. They were impressed that he’s learned English over the past seven months and appreciate that he takes a serious approach, similar to that of Gobert.

“Gobert will be saying, ‘You can’t eat this, you can’t this, you’ve got to do this.’ He’ll fold him into his routine and it’ll serve Joan well,” Lloyd said. “He’s a great kid, and he’s a kid, but he’s got world experience.”