A blast from the past might be in the works for the Los Angeles Lakers as the franchise keeps inviting young prospects for pre-draft workouts.
About a dozen potential 2022 draftees have presented their skills to Lakers coaches since May. Unfortunately, L.A. still doesn’t own a single pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. However, vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka has confirmed the franchise is looking to acquire a second-rounder — most likely in exchange for cash considerations.
With those plans in mind, The Athletic’s Jovan Buha reports the Lakers have reportedly booked a workout with Shaquille O’Neal’s oldest son, Shareef, who is draft-eligible this year:
Draft prospect Shareef O’Neal has an upcoming workout set with the Lakers, sources tell @TheAthletic. O’Neal worked out for the Bucks today and has scheduled visits to Cleveland, Atlanta and Washington among others. @ShamsCharania reported this week that O’Neal is draft eligible.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) June 10, 2022
Although Shareef was one of the top high school prospects out of California in 2018, his college career has hardly resembled that of his Hall of Famer father. The 6-foot-10 forward averaged 2.6 points and 3.0 rebounds in three seasons. However, the 22-year-old struggled with injuries in college, preventing him from displaying his full potential.
Shareef represented UCLA for one year before transferring to LSU, Shaquille’s alma mater.
The 2022 NBA Draft will take place at Barclays Center in New York City on June 23.
Austin Reaves offers advice to 2022 NBA Draft prospects
Austin Reaves didn’t get to hear NBA commissioner Adam Silver call his name on draft night last year. However, the Lakers guard quickly proved his doubters wrong, securing a spot on L.A.’s roster — and even racking up 19 starts in his rookie season.
Speaking from experience, Reaves has offered some advice for the members of this year’s draft class who might find themselves in a similar situation.
“Go into every workout and play the way that you see yourself playing,” Reaves said in an interview with Lakers Nation.
“I went into a lot of workouts obviously knowing like every team has a guy. You’re not gonna find a team that don’t have a guy that usually has the balls in their hands, scores, assists, does all of it. You really just gotta figure out to be a plug-and-play guy if you’re not a top-five guy out the gate.
“Eventually you can build yourself up into better roles and bigger roles and do things like that.”
