LSU redshirt junior forward Shareef O’Neal, son of Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal, has elected to remain in the 2022 NBA Draft.
LSU junior Shareef O’Neal – son of Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal – is now eligible to be selected in the 2022 NBA draft, the league informed teams. A prior list of withdrawals mistakenly included O’Neal. The 6-foot-10 prospect stays in Draft and has upcoming team workouts.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 6, 2022
The 22-year-old will forgo his remaining college eligibility to test the NBA waters in hopes of being selected on draft night.
MORE: When is the 2022 NBA Draft?
O’Neal’s name has been buzzing after The Athletic’s Jovan Buha reported that he has a list of upcoming pre-draft workouts, headlined by the Lakers.
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
As mentioned above, O’Neal has also worked out with the Bucks and has “scheduled visits” with the Cavaliers, Hawks and Wizards.
Get to know more about Shareef O’Neal below.
Shareef O’Neal NBA Draft scouting report
High school
According to ESPN’s Top 100, O’Neal was a four-star recruit and the No. 32-ranked player in the class of 2018 coming out of Crossroads School in Santa Monica, Calif.
In his class, he was ranked as the ninth-best player at his position, the second-best player in his region and the No. 1 player in the state.
O’Neal had offers from Arizona, UCLA, Baylor, California, Georgetown, Kansas State, LSU and USC, and he originally committed to Arizona. After Arizona was under fire due to an FBI probe into corruption in college hoops, O’Neal de-committed from the school and elected to commit to UCLA.
College
O’Neal had to redshirt his freshman season after undergoing surgery for a heart condition, but he took the floor for UCLA in 2019-20. Over 13 games, O’Neal averaged 2.2 points and 2.9 rebounds.
He transferred to LSU, his father’s alma mater, following his redshirt freshman season, playing two years with the Tigers. Over two seasons, O’Neal appeared in 24 games, averaging 2.8 points and 3.1 rebounds in 11.4 minutes.
O’Neal’s best game this past season came against Missouri, where he went for nine points, seven rebounds and one block in 19 minutes of action in a win for LSU.
Once the season ended, O’Neal entered the transfer portal again before deciding to test the NBA waters.
Comparing Shareef O’Neal to Shaquille O’Neal in college
This goes without saying, but Shareef is incomparable to his father. To be fair, there were few college basketball players ever who were as dominant as Shaq.
In three seasons at LSU, Shaq averaged 21.6 points, 13.5 rebounds, 4.6 blocks, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. In 1990-91, the season he was voted AP Player of the Year, Shaq averaged a jaw-dropping 27.6 points, 14.7 rebounds, 5.0 blocks, 1.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 62.8 percent from the field.
Sports-Reference had Shaq listed at 7-1, 325 lbs. at LSU. For comparison, Shareef was listed at 6-10, 220 lbs. in college.
NBA
O’Neal was invited to the G League Elite Camp in Chicago, which occurs the same week as the NBA Draft Combine.
The G League Elite Camp is a three-day event that gives NBA Draft prospects an opportunity to showcase their skills in front of NBA and NBA G League scouts, coaches and front-office executives.
You can find O’Neal’s measurements from the G League Elite camp below.
- Height (w/ shoes): 6’10.5″
- Weight: 207.6 lbs.
- Body fat: 5.7 percent
- Hand dimensions length, width: 9.0 inches, 10.25 inches
- Standing reach: 8’10
- Wingspan: 7’1.25″
O’Neal had a strong showing in his one scrimmage, going for 11 points, 10 rebounds and three assists while shooting 5-for-10 from the field in 21 minutes.
DOUBLE 🚨 DOUBLE
Shareef O’Neal posted #EliteCamp’s first double-double!! 💪🏽 with 11 PTS and 10 REB, the @LSUBasketball alum is making himself known!! pic.twitter.com/kxzJ0dkdId
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) May 17, 2022
Keeping his name in the NBA Draft, O’Neal has scheduled workouts with the Lakers, Cavaliers, Hawks and Wizards, while he has already worked out for the Bucks.
Although the Lakers do not have a draft pick, vice president and general manager Rob Pelinka confirmed at new head coach Darvin Ham’s introductory press conference that the team intends to buy a second-round pick.
O’Neal is projected to be a second-round pick or signed as an undrafted free agent in this year’s draft.