According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Phoenix Suns will likely re-sign forward Royce O’Neale this offseason.
“They’re going to re-sign Royce O’Neale,” said Brian Windhorst on The Hoop Collective Podcast. “That’s going to get done.”
O’Neale joined the Suns during the 2023-24 season after the team traded for him from the Brooklyn Nets in February. In 30 games with the Suns, O’Neale started eight of them. During his entire Suns stint, he averaged 8.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. Furthermore, he shot 41.1% from the field and 37.6% from beyond the arc.
This news comes a few weeks after reports suggested the Suns are aiming to re-sign center Bol Bol this summer as well.
The Suns will have up to 13 free agents this offseason. Assuming the team does re-sign O’Neale, this is a big task they can check off their to-do list.
Phoenix Suns Expected to Re-Sign 7-Year NBA Veteran
Phoenix Suns GM Was Open About Wanting to Retain Royce O’Neale
Former NBA player and current Suns GM James Jones had publicly expressed his desire to keep O’Neale around past the 2023-24 season. In March, Jones said they “hope and expect” the forward to stick around.
“… Grayson and Royce are two great guys. Royce is new to the organization, has done an amazing job, everything you can think of, and Grayson has been here all year and has been a phenomenal part of the team and the organization. We hope and expect to have both of those guys back, along with keeping this core team together because we love our team and we’re going to compete at the highest level and hopefully in the playoffs very soon, we can see them all play together.”
Additionally, James later said he associates O’Neale with “winning plays.”
“When I talk about Royce, I just say ‘winning plays,’” general manager James Jones said. “I can’t tell you whether or not they’ll be on the offensive side of the ball or the defensive side of the ball every night; I just know when you stack it up, he’s gonna have a lot of winning plays.”
The Last Word on Royce O’Neale
O’Neale is not a flashy player, but he is still impactful. Quin Snyder, O’Neale’s former coach with the Utah Jazz, once said he “would hesitate to call him a role player.”
“I would hesitate to call him a role player,” said O’Neale’s former Utah Jazz coach, Quin Snyder. “I’m sure he’d be fine with that, and he probably is that, but that sometimes belittles all the things that someone does. He has a lot of different roles, and I think that’s his greatest strength. His humility as a player and his competitiveness have always set him apart.”
With the Suns, O’Neale has provided exceptional defense and decent 3-and-D play. Furthermore, although Phoenix mostly utilized him off the bench, O’Neale has starting experience and can play well next to Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. Though it has been a short stint so far, O’Neale has proven he can help the Suns succeed. His presence on both sides of the ball is valuable to the team, and a re-signing would make sense for both parties.
