According to ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski, forward Royce O'Neale, who joined the Phoenix Suns midway this season, plans to sign a four-year, $44 million contract extension with the Suns. According to further information from Wojnarowski, there are no player or team options included in the contract, and the four-year contract is fully guaranteed.
O'Neal is a player that the Suns acquired from the Brooklyn Nets before the trade deadline this season, and the Suns have paid a lot of price to get him. The Suns, Nets and Memphis Grizzlies have reached a big deal involving multiple players. The Suns sent Yuta Watanabe and Chimezie Metu to the Grizzlies, Keita Bates-Diop, Jordan Goodwin, the 2026 Suns second-round pick, the 2028 Suns second-round pick and the 2029 Suns second-round pick to the Nets, and got O'Neal from the Nets. And got David Roddy from the Grizzlies. Considering that these three second-round picks were the only three draft picks that the Suns had left at the time, they had taken out all the chips for O'Neal.
After joining the Suns, O'Neal played a total of 30 games for the team in the regular season this season, averaging 25.1 minutes per game, averaging 8.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks per game, shooting 41.1% from the field, 37.6% from three-point range, and 69.2% from the free throw line. In the playoffs, O'Neal played a total of 4 games for the team, averaging 26 minutes per game, averaging 5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1 assist and 0.3 steals per game, shooting 31.8% from the field and 33.3% from three-point range. O'Neal's overall performance was mediocre, and his performance did not exceed everyone's expectations, but on the other hand, he still played his value on both offensive and defensive ends when his tactical position was not too high. As for his poor performance in the playoffs, it is also largely related to the team's poor performance as a whole.
The most critical point is that the Suns are also forced to provide O'Neal with such a contract extension. Since the Suns are already the second-tier team, they have very limited room to operate in the free market and the trade market. In this case, O'Neal is the most capable player the Suns can find and sign. It seems that the price of O'Neal's contract is slightly higher, but from the actual situation, O'Neal is also merciful to the Suns, and the average salary of this contract is actually basically in line with the current actual situation, but O'Neal should have won an extra year of guaranteed contract for himself.