Joan Beringer poses for a photo with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected 17th by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

NEW YORK — The Minnesota Timberwolves selected Joan Beringer with the 17th overall pick of the NBA Draft on Wednesday. The French center gives the Timberwolves increased depth in the frontcourt.

Beringer played 47 games in the 2024-25 season for Cedevita Olimpija of the Adriatic Basketball Association, a league based in former Yugoslavia. In those appearances, he averaged 4.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks over 18 minutes per game. He also shot 59.5% from the field and 60% from the free-throw line. He did not attempt any 3-pointers. 

At the start of the next NBA season, Beringer will still be 18 years old. The 6-foot-11 center will not turn 19 until Nov. 11.

The Associated Press described Beringer as a “French rim-runner with defensive potential. [He] projects well for pick-and-roll, transition and lob situations. [Beringer] had one of the combine’s biggest wingspans at better than 7-4.”

Beringer’s original passion in sports was soccer, and he didn’t pick up basketball until three years ago when he could no longer find soccer cleats in his shoe size, according to ABC.

The Timberwolves have some uncertainty in their frontcourt heading into the offseason; starting power forward Julius Randle has a $30.9M player option that he can decide to opt in or out of by June 29, while 2023-24 Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid has a $15M player option. 

Should either player pick up their options, the Timberwolves will fall into the second apron of the NBA’s salary cap, according to Spotrac. The second apron results in penalties on a team’s draft assets and limits the team’s ability to sign free agents and make trades in order to promote parity.

The Timberwolves also have team options on two-way center Luka Garza and two-way small forward Josh Minott, with each contract being worth approximately $2M if the Timberwolves pick it up.

The Minnesota Timberwolves finished as the sixth seed in the Western Conference last year with a 49-33 record. They defeated the third-seeded Lakers and the seventh-seeded Warriors in the postseason to reach the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive season and third time in franchise history before falling to the eventual NBA Champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder.