PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns will reportedly be getting back Royce O’Neale on a four-year, $44 million deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Wojnarowski reports: “Free agent F Royce O’Neale intends to sign a new four-year, $44 million deal to return to the Phoenix Suns, sources tell ESPN.”
Free agent F Royce O’Neale intends to sign a new four-year, $44 million deal to return to the Phoenix Suns, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/NaBcMJyiuV
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2024
Per ESPN’s Zach Lowe, the “deal has no options (team or player) and is fully guaranteed all the way through, sources tell ESPN.”
Deal has no options (team or player) and is fully guaranteed all the way through, sources tell ESPN https://t.co/pCnKfXGs3s
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) June 29, 2024
The 6-foot-6, 31-year-old O’Neale was acquired ahead of the trade deadline in a three-way deal from the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 8. O’Neale, who has still never missed the playoffs in his eight-year NBA career, has had multiple 20-point and 10-rebound games with the Suns, something he never did once before. He played in all 30 games he was available for Phoenix this regular season, averaging 8.1 points on 41/38/69 splits, 5.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 25.1 minutes per game.
“Blessingggggs!! GOD is good,” O’Neale posted on X after the news.
Blessingggggs!! GOD is good ???????????? https://t.co/860lpmq2bB
— Royce O'Neale (@BucketsONeale00) June 29, 2024
This deal makes a lot of sense for multiple reasons.
The Suns are extremely limited in the moves they can make in free agency and trades, as they have the highest payroll in the NBA next season, now projected to be just under $217 million with this extension (via CapSheets).
Teams that are spending over $189.5 million are operating over the second-tax apron. In this threshold, Phoenix is unable to sign incoming free agents to anything other than veteran minimum contracts. In terms of trades, the Suns are not able to take in more salary than they send out, include cash in deals, aggregate contracts or use a preexisting trade exception.
Even though O’Neale is an unrestricted free agent, the Suns were able to re-sign him to over a veteran minimum because they held his bird rights, meaning they could go over the salary cap to re-sign him. Now, since the Suns can only trade one player at a time and can’t take in more salary than they send out, O’Neale can be traded down the line for a good player(s) making equal to or less than his salary.
Because of this reason and value that O’Neale had as both a veteran, defender and 3-point shooter, this was pretty much a no-brainer. This same sentiment held true when Phoenix extended Grayson Allen to a four-year, $70 million contract extension in April.
“Royce and Grayson are two great guys,” Suns owner Mat Ishbia said on March 7 after it was announced the Suns were hosting the 2027 All-Star Game. “Royce is new to the organization, (but) has done an amazing job, everything you can think of. Grayson has been here all year. He’s 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.”
The legal tampering period for outside free agents begins tomorrow at 3 p.m. MST. Heading into tomorrow, Phoenix now has its top six players from last season under contract for at least the next two years in O’Neale, Allen, Devin Booker (four years, $221 million remaining on his contract), Bradley Beal (three years, $161 million remaining), Kevin Durant (two years, $106 million remaining) and Jusuf Nurkić (two years, $37 million remaining). Phoenix also has Nassir Little (three years, $21.75 million remaining) and David Roddy (two years, $7 million remaining) set to return next season.
Damion Lee is reportedly opting out of his player option, but the expectation is he’ll re-sign. The Suns also drafted Virginia’s Ryan Dunn and Marquette’s Oso Ighodaro, as well as signed Baylor’s Jalen Bridges to a two-way deal. According to PHNX’s Gerald Bourguet, the Suns are hoping to re-sign Josh Okogie and Bol Bol to new deals, but Bol might be tougher to do so, given the Suns can only give the 24-year-old around approximately $2.4 million.
Entering free agency tomorrow, the Suns could have 13 of their 15 roster spots filled already, but are still in obvious need of a backup point guard.
Stay tuned for more free agency news.
*Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, exclusive content, and access to our seasonal magazines! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*
Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
