According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, free agent Royce O’Neale intends to signal a four-year, $44M contract to stay with the Suns.
Zach Lowe of ESPN adds that the deal gained’t characteristic a crew or participant choice and shall be absolutely assured. It is going to be essentially the most profitable contract of O’Neale’s profession, topping his earlier four-year, $36M extension that can expire.
The No. 19 participant on our list of this year’s top 50 free agents, O’Neale has been a dependable, sturdy wing since getting into the league in 2017, by no means showing in fewer than 69 video games in a season throughout stints in Utah, Brooklyn, and Phoenix. The Suns acquired the previous Baylor standout from Brooklyn in a three-team deal at February’s commerce deadline.
A flexible defender with the scale to match up in opposition to larger wings and forwards, O’Neale isn’t a lot of an offensive risk, having by no means averaged greater than 8.8 factors per sport in a season. However he’s a strong three-point shooter, with a profession fee of 38.1% from past the arc, and he has averaged 3.2 assists per sport over the previous two seasons.
As a result of Phoenix tasks to function over the second tax apron in 2024-25, the crew would have had no means to exchange O’Neale or Grayson Allen with an equal participant in free company, so there was an expectation that each gamers can be re-signed. The Suns extended Allen in April and have now reached a deal to retain O’Neale.
Since O’Neale was anticipated to obtain curiosity on the open market from rival suitors, the belief was that Phoenix must go as much as three or 4 years to beat out golf equipment who would possibly supply the next beginning wage. That was the case, with the Suns making a assured four-year dedication to the 31-year-old.
As cap knowledgeable Yossi Gozlan reports, including O’Neale’s new deal to the Suns’ books will increase their projected crew wage for subsequent season to almost $217M. The posh tax line is anticipated to come back in at round $171.3M. There could also be extra strikes pushing the Suns’ wage in a single route or the opposite, however primarily based on the present projections and tax penalties, it will be the second-most costly roster in NBA historical past, says Gozlan.