The Phoenix Suns made their first in-season trade less than two hours before the trade deadline, acquiring Royce O’Neaale from the Brooklyn Nets and David Roddy from the Memphis Grizzlies in a three-team trade.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Here are the full details of the trade:
- Suns: Royce O’Neale, David Roddy
- Nets: Keita Bates-Diop, Jordan Goodwin, 3 second-round picks (via Suns)
- Grizzlies: Yuta Watanabe, Chimezie Metu, 2026 first-round pick swap (via Suns)
The Nets and Grizzlies are both unlikely to make the playoffs, so it is hard to grade this trade for them, as they are just trying to get off salaries.
Our Suns’ insiders Brendan Mau and Jacob Hardin grade and share their thoughts on the trade from the Suns’ perspective:
Brendan’s Grade: A+
I said before the season that it helps the Suns to have their stars and core for a full season, rather than just less than half the season like last year with Kevin Durant. One big reason for that is that they could build continuity and see exactly what they need at the trade deadline. They have done just that.
O’Neale is someone who is a perfect fit for what they are trying to build, given his veteran presence, established chemistry with Durant and 3-and-D ability. Roddy could also make an impact, as they don’t have a bully-ball driver like him on the roster.
Even more so than just the return, the Suns were able to keep Nassir Little and his non-veteran minimum contract and only give up players on veteran minimum contracts. Keeping Little, along with one second-round pick, gives them assets to trade in the future. Little signed a four-year, $28 million contract extension with the Blazers in October of 2022, which kicked in this season.
Overall, giving up four players who had all fallen out of the rotation and proven they wouldn’t be getting playoff minutes and getting at least one player back that probably will makes this a great trade. The Suns now get to weigh their options on the buyout market for the remaining two spots. The difference between last year and this year is all the players added won’t have a significant impact on the makeup of the team, as their identity has already been established.
This trade can only improve the team, not hurt them, as the Suns kept really their top-9 rotation players up until this point.
Jacob’s Grade: B
The recent focus on the Suns’ bench reflects a similar reaction from the initial excitement surrounding offseason pickups like Yuta Watanabe, Jordan Goodwin, Chimezie Metu, and Keita Bates-Diop.
Who can blame them? After all, the easy thing to do is find the flashy passes, corner threes, and aggressive plays that such players made.
While fans initially reveled in their flashy plays, the reality is that the Suns now boast one of the league’s weakest benches in terms of points per game.
Which, in part, led to Phoenix almost completely rearranging their bench, trading away the four players named above to receive Royce O’Neale and David Roddy.
Now, we are back to square 1, trying to imagine how much better the Suns bench will be with their new pieces. Sure, as Brendan mentioned, it is difficult to say that this trade will hurt the Suns, however, to say that this trade is a massive difference maker, seems to be a little far-fetched.
What does lend some weight to the trade in favor of the Suns is O’Neale’s extensive playoff experience. Since 2018, he has been a consistent presence in the postseason, having played in 44 playoff games, many of which he started.
Overall, the Suns needed to make a change with their bench, and they did. Was it a flashy move? No. But it is something at the very least.
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Brendan Mau and Jacob Hardin cover the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow Brendan on X via @Brendan_Mau and Jacob via @JacobHardin_
