Royce O’Neale signs four-year, $44 million deal to stay with Suns

Royce O’Neale signs four-year, $44 million deal to stay with Suns

One day ahead of the 2024 NBA Free Agency period, the Phoenix Suns and forward Royce O’Neale have agreed to a four-year, $44 million deal, ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski was first to report Saturday.

The 31-year-old forward was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets ahead of the 2023-24 NBA Trade Deadline in a three-time trade involving the Memphis Grizzlies, which sent Keita Bates-Diop to Brooklyn and Yuta Watanabe back to Memphis.

It will mark the biggest contract of O’Neale’s career up to this point, having made not over $40 million combined over his first seven seasons. His first cap hit for the 2024-25 season is projected to be at $9.8 million and last through 2027-28, his age-34 campaign, per Spotrac .

According to ESPN NBA analyst Zach Lowe, his contract won’t have a team option and will be fully guaranteed for all four seasons unlike his last deal, which was partially guaranteed in the final season.

With Phoenix being the league’s highest payroll north of $200 million–well above the punitive second apron–it was very limited with its flexibility. Thus, it was limited to who it could sign, though obtaining O’Neale’s bird rights allowed them to still extend him at a reasonable price tag. Even with Eric Gordon opting out of his deal, the Suns have $214.6 million in payroll for 2024-25, according to Spotrac ; that’s not including rookie Ryan Dunn ‘s $2.5 million rookie scale salary.

O’Neale has been a reliable 3-and-D wing throughout his career, averaging 7.7 points and 3.8 rebounds on 37.0 percent shooting from beyond the arc across 79 games last season. Over 78 percent of his total shot attempts came from distance, not adding much on-ball creation ability.

What other moves do you think the Phoenix Suns should make? Let us know in the comments!

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