Welcome back to basketball, folks!
While Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings fans got the California Classic, and a bunch of different teams got the Salt Lake City Summer League, the Minnesota Timberwolves kicked off their season — Summer League or otherwise — with a game against the New Orleans Pelicans, who have not won a Summer League game since 2023.
That did not change today.
Before I drag on about the players that performed well, let’s immediately get to the things that most of you are likely here to read about. Of course, I’m talking about the pair of sophomore bigs, the international duo of Rocco Zikarsky and Joan Beringer.
Despite less than impressive finishing to start out the game (with the exception of a soaring lob finish off an inbound), during which he missed four hook shots, Joan Beringer was impressive as a rebounder and shot blocker. It makes a ton of sense that the Wolves have been so high on him internally.
Possibly most encouraging was the weight and muscle Joan has clearly put on, and the improvements to his handle that enabled him to attack and dominate Pelicans big Hunter Dickinson.
I’m sure people will be talking about this play for the next few days.
Much of the conversation surrounding the Frenchman will be about how soon he can be a contributing piece to a team that got decidedly younger this offseason while still aiming for title hopes (however unrealistic that is).
Still, his partnership with Rudy Gobert should certainly leave him with a guide that the mentorship system in 2K would drool over.
We also got some confirmation from head coach Chris Finch that the Wolves will use Beringer at the four beyond just this summer in defensively focused lineups. Finch highlighted Joan’s ability to switch onto guards as a swing factor in that regard.
Zikarsky was, unfortunately, not as exciting. While the towering Aussie was not awful, he also seems to lack the required movement abilities that an NBA player needs, but that will not be decided in Summer League. He got off to a very slow start, missing his first four shots, but bounced back to have moments as an under-the-rim finisher.
For those of us (myself included) who were excited to watch Rocco as a passer and shooter, he disappointed there with four turnovers, two assists, and 1/3 shooting from deep.
With those two big pillars covered, the rest of this recap falls at the feet of the guy who may have been the Wolves’ best player this afternoon: Zyon Pullin.
The starting point guard had a near triple-double with 24 points, 12 assists, and eight rebounds. The 6’4 product out of Florida did it with no threes, instead constantly slashing to the rim, and finishing with some impressive layups and floaters.
Pullin lit up the G-League last year and is a likely candidate for one of the Wolves’ two-way spots. While there may only be one left alongside Enrique Freeman and Zikarsky, I’d be shocked to see anyone but Pullin in that role.
There should be some credit given to Nate Santos and Donovan Williams as well, who both had the definition of “great in their role” performances, with Santos in particular flashing as a full-court player and finisher.
That leaves just the recent 2nd round pick, Trey Kaufman-Renn, who did little with sparing playing time, participating largely just as a rebounder.
For any fans excited to see the early of the two second-rounders the Wolves took during the draft, Duke wing Isaiah Evans, he is still in NBA purgatory while Minnesota waits on Charlotte and Brooklyn to finalize the details of the Lamelo Ball – Naz Reid – Julius Randle trade.
The Wolves will be back in action on Saturday against a Nuggets team that should be less strapped for cash than their NBA equivalent. Who knows? Maybe we’ll add another funny chapter to that rivalry in the halls of the Pavilion in Vegas.
