Royce was a solid trade deadline addition to a team that needs some grit.
The Phoenix Suns are looking to pick up the pieces from a shattered 2023-24 season and put their best foot forward. They are limited in their options relative to roster construction, and much of the changes that will be needed need to occur from within. Attitude. Effort. Accountability.
Still, you need players to take the court, preferably ones with talent. Royce O’Neale, who came to Phoenix via trade this past February, is one of those players.
O’Neale is entering unrestricted free agency this summer after posting 8.1 points in 30 games played with Phoenix. He is expected to be a hot commodity as he brings a three-and-D mentality to whoever he decides to sign with.
Per Brian Windhorst on the Hoops Collective Podcast, that will be the Phoenix Suns.
“They’re going to re-sign Royce O’Neale,” Windhorst said. “That’s going to get done.”
The readdition of O’Neale would ensure a solid core around the Suns’ Big Three, which includes Grayson Allen and Jusuf Nurkic. That would give Phoenix six stable players around which to build the rest of their roster.
If they can sign O’Neale, the team will allow themselves more options moving forward. Seeing as they have his Bird rights, they can sign him while going over the salary cap. He would not only be a player who can contribute, but a chess piece to move at a later date if and when it is needed.
Decisions still need to occur as to who the team believes they should target in the 2024 NBA Draft, as well as free agency. Plenty needs to occur for this team to become a viable contender. This next month should be quite interesting.
Stay tuned to Bright Side as we cover it all…and try to keep our sanity along the way.
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