Timberwolves Rumors

Timberwolves Sign Naz Reid To Five-Year Deal

July 14th, 2025 at 5:04pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 14: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

JUNE 27: The Timberwolves and Naz Reid are in agreement on a new contract, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports that the reserve forward/center intends to sign a five-year, $125MM contract to remain in Minnesota.

Reid held a player option worth approximately $15MM for the 2025/26 season, but will turn down that option in advance of Sunday’s deadline in order to finalize his new deal with the Wolves in July. According to Charania, the new contract will also feature a player option on the final year.

After winning the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award in 2023/24, Reid had another strong showing for the Timberwolves in ’24/25, matching or exceeding his stats from the previous season in several key categories. The 25-year-old averaged 14.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 27.5 minutes per game across 80 outings (17 starts).

Reid has knocked down 39.5% of 5.4 three-point attempts per game over the past two seasons, making him a valuable floor-spacer in Minnesota’s frontcourt alongside center Rudy Gobert. Lineups featuring Reid and Gobert outscored opponents by 11.8 points per 100 possessions last season, the best mark of any of the team’s 25 most frequently used duos.

According to Charania, there was a “vibrant market developing” in free agency for Reid, with teams prepared to offer similar money and potentially a starting role. While Brooklyn is the only club currently projected to have enough cap room to have offered Reid a starting salary in the range of $20-25MM, there are other clubs that probably had the ability to get there.

The Pistons, for instance, were known to be interested in adding a stretch big man, and were cited as a team with interest in Reid. Detroit has the ability to create roughly $17MM in cap room and could have attempted to move off one more contract to create additional spending flexibility.

But the Timberwolves spoke both publicly and privately since their season ended about their desire to retain Reid, and showed with their five-year offer that they were serious about holding off rival suitors.

The next orders of business for the Wolves will be figuring out what happens with starting power forward Julius Randle and guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Randle holds a $30.9MM player option that he must decide on by Sunday, while Alexander-Walker will be an unrestricted free agent.

Although Minnesota has expressed a desire to keep all three players, retaining both Randle and Alexander-Walker would almost certainly push team salary well over the second tax apron for a second straight year, as cap expert Yossi Gozlan outlines (via Twitter). That may not appeal to the front office (or team ownership).

There has been some skepticism about the Wolves’ ability to keep all three players, with Alexander-Walker viewed as the most likely odd man out. Accounting for Randle’s option and no new deal for Alexander-Walker, the Wolves currently project to operate just below the second apron, tweets ESPN Bobby Marks.

Reported Signings That Aren’t Yet Official

July 14th, 2025 at 11:15am CST by Luke Adams

Most of the free agent deals and all of the trades that were reported during or before the July moratorium have since been officially finalized, but there are still a handful of signings that we’re waiting on. Here’s a quick breakdown of the reported free agent contracts that have not yet been formally completed and announced:

Brooklyn Nets:

Day’Ron Sharpe (two years, $12MM)
Ziaire Williams (two years, $12MM)

The Nets are the only NBA team that still has cap room remaining, so they’re likely weighing their options for how best to use that space before officially cutting into it by signing Sharpe and/or Williams. It’s possible that one of those two contracts will eventually slot into the room exception in order to help Brooklyn maximize its cap space.

Dallas Mavericks:

Dante Exum (one year)

The Mavericks are hard-capped at the second tax apron as a result of using their taxpayer mid-level exception to sign D’Angelo Russell. Signing Exum, even for the minimum (which will likely be what his new deal is worth), would push their team salary above that hard cap, which isn’t permitted. So Dallas will need to make a cost-cutting move before officially finalizing Exum’s deal. Former first-round pick Olivier-Maxence Prosper is considered a trade candidate.

Memphis Grizzlies:

Santi Aldama (three years, $52.5MM)
Ty Jerome (three years, $27.66MM)
Cam Spencer (four years, $10.5MM)
Jock Landale (one year, minimum salary)

The Grizzlies needed to finalize Cole Anthony‘s buyout and renegotiate Jaren Jackson‘s contract using cap room before making all of these moves, which can be completed without using cap space. Anthony’s buyout and Jackson’s renegotiation both happened over the weekend, so I’d expect Memphis to start officially finalizing these signings soon — perhaps even as soon as today.

Minnesota Timberwolves:

Naz Reid (five years, $125MM)
Julius Randle (three years, $100MM)

It’s not entirely clear why the Timberwolves‘ two big deals for their power forwards have been delayed. My best guess is that Minnesota is waiting on a decision from another free agent on an offer that would use the team’s taxpayer mid-level exception.

In that scenario, the Wolves would want to get Reid’s and Randle’s first-year salaries as low as possible to ensure their team salary stays below a second-apron hard cap. If there’s not another non-minimum free agent incoming, the club could potentially increase Reid’s and Randle’s first-year salaries slightly. That’s just my speculation, however.

Many two-way deals and Exhibit 10 agreements around the NBA have also been reported and not yet finalized, but those won’t affect teams’ cap situations, so the ones above are the ones we’re keeping the closest eye on.

Northwest Notes: Beringer, Henderson, Hansen, Bates

July 13th, 2025 at 7:01pm CST by Eli Cohen

The workout that sealed Joan Beringer‘s selection by the Timberwolves with the 17th overall pick last month took place in Chicago less than a week before the draft, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

The Wolves’ front office had been keeping an eye on the young big man, who only started playing basketball at 14 when he grew too big for soccer cleats throughout his season with Cedevita Olimpija. But that late workout allowed Beringer to show his skill set outside of the game tape, and that proved to be the deciding factor for Minnesota’s top decision-makers.

“I remember just catching an eye with [Wolves’ president Tim Connelly] and both of our eyebrows were kind of cocked, like what’s going on here, man,” said director of scouting Joe Connelly.

Beringer’s agent, Jelani Floyd, considered his client’s floor to be No. 16 with Orlando, but when the Magic traded their pick to the Grizzlies, the Wolves contacted him to schedule a last-minute workout — Floyd made the front office come to him.

“My whole thing is like, hey, come in, bring your staff, and we’ll be able to see how serious they were,” Floyd said.

The Wolves found the combination of Beringer’s size, mobility, and balance — which culminated in him performing a free-throw line dunk on command — impressive enough that they decided the French center had to be their guy.

We have more from around the Northwest division:

Trail Blazers‘ head coach Chauncey Billups is extremely encouraged by the offseason work from Scoot Henderson, who Billups said is having an incredible summer. “He had a tough year last year, only because he didn’t get to play basketball during the summer. He was banged up, he was licking his wounds from the season.” Billups said in a Summer League interview with the ESPN broadcast team (video link). “This year he’s been playing ball all summer, he’s been working on his game, as you said. Scoot is gonna take an incredible leap this year.” Billups also expressed excitement about how Jrue Holiday could help Henderson’s development: “What better guy in the league could you have to raise Scoot and Shaedon [Sharpe]?“
Yang Hansen was maybe the biggest surprise of the 2025 draft when the Trail Blazers picked him 16th overall, but his Summer League debut went a long way to quieting any doubters, writes Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (subscriber link). Hansen put up 10 points, four rebounds, five assists, and three blocks, and while his passing captured a lot of attention, Highkin says that it was his communication with his teammates that was the most impressive part of his debut performance. At least one person within the Blazers organization wasn’t surprised. “You don’t do something that crazy unless you’re sure about it,” said the anonymous staffer.
Tamar Bates is finding a way to impact the Nuggets‘ Summer League team outside of the box score, writes Bennett Durando of the Denver Post. Bates, who is on a two-way contract, has made an effort to be a vocal leader and communicator out on the floor. “I felt like I made a lot of winning plays,” Bates said. “I made a few shots, but I think the thing I’m most proud of is that I didn’t let a missed shot or a turnover affect my communication (and) my intensity.” Nuggets’ Summer League coach Andrew Munson agreed with the self-assessment. “He’s the loudest guy on the team, in all the right ways,” Munson said.

Northwest Notes: Valanciunas, Nuggets, Thunder, J. Gentry

July 12th, 2025 at 8:21am CST by Rory Maher

The agreed-upon trade between the Nuggets and Kings that will send Jonas Valanciunas to Denver and Dario Saric to Sacramento will likely be completed this weekend, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter links).

According to Stein, the delay was due to the Nuggets needing additional time to finalize “all aspects” of their Michael Porter Jr./Cameron Johnson trade with the Nets. Both of those players have extensive injury histories, so that may have played a factor, though Stein didn’t explicitly say that.

Denver had to formally complete the Porter/Johnson deal before it could acquire Valanciunas due to the way the trades were structured.

Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:

Head coach David Adelman believes Valanciunas can be the offensive hub of the Nuggets‘ second unit, as Bennett Durando of The Denver Post relays. “Point center. You can play combo guards. You don’t need a lead point guard (in lineups with Valanciunas),” Adelman said on ESPN’s Summer League broadcast. “You can play five-out offense, play off the elbow, post him up. He’s such a skilled player. … He shoots the ball better than most people realize. So that’s how I envision him. I think you have multiple combination guards. You can get away with that with a guy like that.”
The Thunder have signed (or are signing) their top three players — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren — to maximum-salary extensions this summer. Sam Quinn of CBS Sports explains why Oklahoma City is uniquely well positioned to manage the punitive aspects of having an expensive payroll in the future, noting that the defending champions may not operate over the second tax apron until the 2027/28 season.
The Timberwolves are hiring Jack Gentry — a former Lakers coaching associate — to be their new head video coordinator, sources tell Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). Jack is the son of longtime NBA coach Alvin Gentry, who is currently a member of Sacramento’s front office.

And-Ones: Veteran Extensions, Summer League, Rubio, Arcidiacono

July 11th, 2025 at 10:00pm CST by Eli Cohen

This offseason has seen a trio of Thunder players receive maximum-salary contract extensions in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren, with Grizzlies big man Jaren Jacks on Jr. and Suns guard Devin Booker among the other veterans who have signed – or at least agreed to – lucrative extensions.

That still leaves several dominoes to fall, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic, many of which are more interesting than your usual run-of-the-mill negotiations. It has already been reported that Nikola Jokic isn’t expected to sign a new deal with the Nuggets, for instance, as he would be eligible for a much higher number if he waits a year.

Another example of a conversation that is more complicated than it would appear is the Lakers and Luka Doncic. Because Doncic was traded while on his second contract, he is not super-max eligible. Because of that, it’s possible that he could negotiate to remove his player option and extend for three years with a player option, which would set him up for a new deal in 2028 that would be worth the 35% max for 10-year veterans.

Kristaps Porzingis and Trae Young of the Hawks, Darius Garland with the Cavaliers, Mikal Bridges with the Knicks, Kevin Durant with the Rockets, De’Aaron Fox with the Spurs, and Toumani Camara with the Trail Blazers are among the other extension candidates Hollinger identifies and examines.

We have more from around the world of hoops:

The beauty of Summer League is that there’s something for every fan base to find hope in. ESPN’s Kevin Pelton and Jeremy Woo go through all 30 rosters to spotlight a player to watch for every team. While some, like Cooper Flagg in Dallas, are obvious, not every team has a top pick. Pelton points to LJ Cryer for the Warriors and Kobe Brown for the Clippers, while Woo looks at Kobe Bufkin for the Hawks and Taelon Peter for the Pacers, among others.
Ricky Rubio recently opened up about his mental health struggles that have kept him out of basketball for the last year. He spoke with Jorge Quiroga of Marca about his time with the Timberwolves, saying, “I had a rough time in my third year. Things weren’t going well, and I gave an interview to a journalist. My parents came to see me in Minneapolis, and after the game, I talked to my mom and cried, telling her I wanted to leave.” When it comes to his future, he said, “I’d like to play basketball without being Ricky Rubio, but it’s impossible. I want to play basketball, but I can’t. I’m trying my best to see if I can.”
Former Knicks guard Ryan Arcidiacono has agreed to a deal with Trapani Shark, a Sicilian-based team in Italy’s top league, per a press release. Arcidiacano played seven years in the NBA, averaging 4.0 points and 1.9 assists per game. He most recently played with the Windy City Bulls in the G League, averaging 8.2 PPG and 3.3 APG in 21 minutes a night.

Timberwolves Sign Rocco Zikarsky To Two-Way Contract

July 9th, 2025 at 10:17pm CST by Luke Adams

10:17 pm: Zikarsky’s two-way contract will cover two seasons, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac.

2:23 pm: The Timberwolves have officially added second-round pick Rocco Zikarsky to their roster, announcing today in a press release that the 7’3″ center has signed a two-way contract with the team.

Zikarsky, who will turn 19 on Friday, has been a member of the Brisbane Bullets in Australia’s National Basketball League for the last two seasons. The Australian big man appeared in 18 games for the team in 2024/25, averaging 4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per contest.

The Bulls technically selected Zikarsky with the No. 45 overall pick on draft night last month, but they did so on behalf of the Timberwolves. The Lakers initially agreed to move up from No. 55 to No. 45 in a deal with the Bulls, then flipped that pick to Minnesota in a deal for No. 36.

Zikarsky’s rights were officially traded to the Wolves as part of the seven-team Kevin Durant blockbuster.

As our tracker shows, Minnesota now has a pair of players on two-way contracts, with Zikarsky joining fellow center Jesse Edwards. The Wolves have one more two-way slot available and free agent guard Tristen Newton is the favorite to fill it, having received a two-way qualifying offer from the club at the end of June.

Groups Set For 2025 NBA Cup

July 9th, 2025 at 1:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially announced the six groups of five teams apiece for the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup, also known as the in-season tournament (Twitter link).

In order to set the groups, the league splits the Western and Eastern Conferences into five three-team tiers based on last season’s regular season standings, with one club from each tier randomly drawn into each of the conference’s three groups.

For instance, the top three teams from the West will all be in separate groups, with each of those three groups also featuring one team in the 4-6 range, one in the 7-9 range, and so on.

Here are the groups for the 2025 NBA Cup:

West Group A: Oklahoma City Thunder (1), Minnesota Timberwolves (6), Sacramento Kings (9), Phoenix Suns (11), Utah Jazz (15)
West Group B: Los Angeles Lakers (3), Los Angeles Clippers (5), Memphis Grizzlies (8), Dallas Mavericks (10), New Orleans Pelicans (14)
West Group C: Houston Rockets (2), Denver Nuggets (4), Golden State Warriors (7), Portland Trail Blazers (12), San Antonio Spurs (13)
East Group A: Cleveland Cavaliers (1), Indiana Pacers (4), Atlanta Hawks (8), Toronto Raptors (11), Washington Wizards (15)
East Group B: Boston Celtics (2), Detroit Pistons (6), Orlando Magic (7), Brooklyn Nets (12), Philadelphia 76ers (13)
East Group C: New York Knicks (3), Milwaukee Bucks (5), Chicago Bulls (9), Miami Heat (10), Charlotte Hornets (14)

The round-robin group play games will be starting a little earlier than usual this season and will run from October 31 to November 28. Each team will face the other four clubs in its group once, with the winners of each group and one wild card team from each conference advancing to the eight-team, single-elimination knockout round.

The full schedule of group play games can be viewed right here.

The quarterfinals will be played on December 9-10, with the semifinals and final to follow on Dec. 13 and Dec. 16, respectively, in Las Vegas. The knockout round games will all be aired by one of the NBA’s new broadcasting partners, Amazon Prime.

The Bucks won last season’s NBA Cup, with star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo earning MVP honors after leading Milwaukee to a victory over the Thunder in the championship game.

Clippers Reportedly Favorites To Land Bradley Beal

July 8th, 2025 at 6:29pm CST by Rory Maher

Assuming he reaches a buyout with the Suns – which appears to be a matter of when, not if – the Clippers are viewed as the frontrunners to sign Bradley Beal, league sources tell Law Murray, Dan Woike and Fred Katz of The Athletic.

Kurt Helin of NBC Sports previously reported that the Clippers were considered the favorites to land the three-time All-Star if he hits the open market.

According to The Athletic, Beal knows he likely won’t be able to immediately make back the money he gives up in a buyout — if the Suns want to use the stretch provision to spread his remaining salary across five seasons instead of two, he’ll have to forfeit a minimum of $13.8MM due to a CBA rule.

Murray, Woike, and Katz suggest the 32-year-old might sign a two-year deal with Los Angeles that includes a player option for 2026/27 so that he’d have the option of returning to the open market in a year.

The Clippers recently traded Norman Powell after reportedly being reluctant to offer him a long-term deal, and then waived Jordan Miller today. Both moves were viewed as precursors to signing Beal, with the trade of Powell opening up a spot on the depth chart while the release of Miller creates a little extra cap flexibility.

The Clippers used $8.75MM of their non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Brook Lopez, but still have about $5.35MM of MLE money left that they could offer Beal while still maintaining enough room below their first-apron hard cap to fill out the roster.

In addition to the Clippers, Beal has also been considering the Lakers, Warriors, and Bucks, league sources tell The Athletic. The Timberwolves have also been cited as a team with interest in the three-time All-Star, but The Athletic’s report doesn’t confirm that interest is being reciprocated.

Luke Adams contributed to this story.

Where Things Stand In NBA Free Agency

July 8th, 2025 at 9:24am CST by Luke Adams

We’re now into the second week of the NBA’s 2025/26 league year, and while free agency has been resolved for many top players, there are still a number of intriguing names who don’t yet have new contract agreements in place.

Let’s check in on where things stand for some of those players…

The restricted free agents

While they’re not the only four restricted free agents still on the board, there are four names who make up the top tier of notable unsigned RFAs, with each of them ranking among our top 10 free agents as of June 30. Those four players are Josh Giddey (Bulls), Jonathan Kuminga (Warriors), Quentin Grimes (Sixers), and Cam Thomas (Nets).

The restricted free agent market will likely play out very slowly this summer, given that there are essentially no teams (with the possible exception of Brooklyn) in position to sign any one of those players to the kind of offer sheet that would give the player’s current team pause. Here’s what we know about each of those four RFAs:

Josh Giddey (Bulls)
The expectation is that Giddey will remain in Chicago, so it’ll just be a matter of figuring out exactly what his next contract looks like. His camp is reportedly hoping to match (or, presumably, exceed) the five-year, $150MM extension that Jalen Suggs signed with Orlando last fall. Whether the Bulls are willing to go that high in terms of annual salary and/or years remains to be seen.

Jonathan Kuminga (Warriors)
The Kings, Wizards, Heat, Bulls, Bucks, and Nets were among the teams said last week to have expressed varying level of interest in a sign-and-trade deal for Kuminga. However, some of those teams have since made moves that will make Kuminga a less appealing – or practical – fit.

Sacramento has reportedly been the most aggressive suitor for Kuminga so far, having “floated” the idea a package that included 2024 first-rounder Devin Carter and two second-round picks.

But with no deal imminent, the expectation is that the 22-year-old and his camp will meet at the Las Vegas Summer League with interested teams, including the Warriors. A return to Golden State remains very much in play despite Kuminga’s up-and-down tenure in Golden State so far.

Quentin Grimes (Sixers)
The Sixers remain very confident that they’ll re-sign Grimes sooner or later and have “splashed cold water” on possible sign-and-trade scenarios, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic. As with Giddey, it seems like the main question with Grimes isn’t where he’ll end up, but what his new contract with his current team will look like.

Cam Thomas (Nets)
We’ve heard very little since free agency opened about Thomas. In a Bleacher Report stream last Thursday (YouTube link), NBA insider Jake Fischer said the Nets guard “does not really have a market, to my understanding.”

Brooklyn is the only team in the league operating below the minimum salary floor, so it’s not as if the Nets are going to be outbid by a rival suitor — it certainly seems as if the only way Thomas ends up on a new team this offseason is if Brooklyn doesn’t want to bring him back.

The veteran unrestricted free agents

The next four highest-ranked unsigned players from our top-50 list after those four restricted free agents are long-tenured veterans. Here’s what we know about those players:

Chris Paul
The Clippers, Suns, and Bucks have been the teams most frequently linked to Paul in recent days. Milwaukee probably offers the best path to a starting role, which is something that’s reportedly important to the longtime NBA point guard, but he also wants to be close to his family in Los Angeles, which could give an edge to those two Western Conference teams.

Russell Westbrook
Another L.A. native who would reportedly like to play closer to home, Westbrook was said to be drawing legitimate interest from the Kings, but that was when it looked like Sacramento was going to trade Malik Monk. If that doesn’t happen, there may not be a spot on the Kings’ backcourt (or on the team’s cap) for Westbrook.

Al Horford
While Horford has been linked to several teams in the last week or two, the one constant has been the Warriors, who continue to look like the frontrunner to land the big man if he doesn’t retire. Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link) reported on Monday that Horford continued to mull his options, with no deal imminent.

I suspect Golden State wants to resolve its Kuminga situation before officially committing its taxpayer mid-level exception to Horford, since doing so would hard-cap the team at the second tax apron and potentially complicate its ability to match an aggressive offer sheet for Kuminga.

Malcolm Brogdon
Reporting on Monday indicated that the Clippers, Suns, Lakers, Warriors, Timberwolves, Bucks, Pelicans, and Kings have all conveyed at least some level of interest in Brogdon. With some other higher-profile guards still out there, Brogdon may be the Plan B for some teams, which would mean he’d have to wait for some of those other players to commit before his options really crystalize.

The two veteran guards who aren’t yet free agents

Damian Lillard is currently on waivers and Bradley Beal is still working on a buyout with the Suns, but the expectation is that both players will reach unrestricted free agency pretty soon.

Lillard is a bit of a wild card, since he’s likely to miss the 2025/26 season due to an Achilles tear. He hasn’t ruled out the possibility of signing with a team sooner rather than later, and there will certainly be no shortage of clubs who would welcome the opportunity to help him with his rehab process and get a leg up on retaining him for ’26/27. But he’s not the type of player who will help a team win in the short term.

Beal, on the other hand, is coming off a pretty solid offensive season and would become a much more valuable investment if he’s on a contract that’s closer to his minimum salary than his maximum. The Clippers, Lakers, Bucks, Timberwolves, and Warriors are among the teams believed to have interest in signing Beal.

With many of those clubs also eyeing Paul, Brogdon, or other guards, Beal may be the first domino to fall — if and when he finds a new team, the ones that miss out can shift their focus elsewhere in earnest. The Clippers are rumored to the favorites for Beal, per Kurt Helin of NBC Sports.

The trades that aren’t yet official

As our full breakdown of this offseason’s trades shows, there are only two agreed-upon deals that aren’t yet official: Denver’s acquisition of Cameron Johnson from the Nets, plus the Jonas Valanciunas/Dario Saric swap between the Nuggets and Kings.

There has been speculation that the Nuggets will combine both of those agreements into a single transaction to avoid creating a hard cap at the first tax apron. At the very least, as NBA insider Marc Stein tweets, Denver needs to get the Johnson/Michael Porter Jr. trade done before the deal with the Kings in order to be able to get below the first apron. That will allow the Nuggets to take back more salary than they send out for Saric.

The Nets may be thoroughly exploring scenarios for how to take full advantage of their current cap room before they finalize that trade with the Nuggets, since it will cut into their space significantly — swapping Johnson for Porter will use up $17MM+ of their room.

The delay on these deals is not an indication that the Valanciunas/Saric deal won’t eventually be finalized. Multiple reports have indicated it remains on track, despite Valanciunas’ reported desire to get out of his NBA contract and sign with the Greek team Panathinaikos. Multiple reports, including another one from Stein on Monday night (Twitter link), have also indicated that the Nuggets have told the veteran center they intend to keep him and want him to honor his contract.

For what it’s worth, a report from SDNA in Greece indicates that Panathinaikos was assured by Valanciunas’ representation that the Nuggets would let him out of his NBA deal and was surprised to find out that Denver hadn’t signed off on that plan at all.

Although those two Denver deals are the only ones we know about that aren’t official, that doesn’t mean there won’t be more trades still to come — the Clippers, Heat, and Jazz, for instance, agreed to a three-team trade on Monday and finalized it later in the day. It’s possible that more deals could be around the corner as teams and executives congregate for Summer League action.

Timberwolves Sign Joan Beringer To Rookie Deal

July 7th, 2025 at 3:55pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves have officially signed first-round pick Joan Beringer to his rookie scale contract, according to a press release from the team.

One of the top international players in this year’s draft class, Beringer played this past season for Cedevita Olimpija in Slovenia, where he averaged 4.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks in 18.3 minutes per game in 30 outings in the ABA League.

The young Frenchman, who will turn 19 in November, has only played basketball for four years and is still learning the game, notes ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, who adds that Beringer possesses “outstanding” physical tools, including the coveted combination of defensive mobility and rim-protecting ability.

Timberwolves general manger Matt Lloyd told reporters after June’s draft that several team officials became convinced that Beringer was a perfect fit for the franchise after watching him work out and meeting with him in Chicago during the pre-draft process. Minnesota just wasn’t sure if he would still be available at No. 17 overall.

“Joan is one of those rare cases where the best player available also had a fit,” Lloyd said. “And we were sweating it. … It was a long night of waiting.”

As our breakdown of rookie scale salaries shows, assuming Beringer assumes the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale, which is likely, his deal will be worth about $20.3MM over four years, including $4.2MM in year one. The first two seasons are guaranteed, followed by team options in years three and four.

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