Royce O'Neale 2024-25 Suns season preview: Stop sleeping on this useful 3-and-D wing

With all the understandable excitement over rookie Ryan Dunn, it feels like people might be overlooking what Royce O’Neale can provide for the Phoenix Suns coming off the bench.

But we’re nothing if not thorough, and because we’ve been going through the painstaking work of breaking down each Suns player in excruciating detail, we’re doing exactly that for a guy who feels like he’s been part of the core for a while, but really only joined the mix back in February.

“When I talk about Royce, I just say ‘winning plays,'” general manager James Jones said. “I can’t tell you whether or not they’ll be on the offensive side of the ball or the defensive side of the ball every night; I just know when you stack it up, he’s gonna have a lot of winning plays.”

Over the next six days, we’re chugging through our Suns season preview series, one-by-one, for all 17 players on the roster. That includes both a written piece for the avid readers (hello there!) and a video breakdown for the visual learners.

On Day 11, we’re taking a renewed look at Royce O’Neale, what he brings to the table on both ends of the floor, and why people are sleeping on the value of this 3-and-D wing coming off the bench.

Royce O’Neale 2024-25 Suns Season Preview

One thing is for sure: Royce O’Neale is NOT shy about getting up 3s. In his 29 appearances for the Suns, he made nearly 37.6 percent of his 5.2 long-range attempts per game, including 43.4 percent on corner 3s, 37.8 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s and 40.3 percent on wide-open 3s.

NBA.com may refer to “wide open 3s” as the nearest defender being 6+ feet away, but if you asked O’Neale, all he needed was an inch of space to be “wide open.”

Unfortunately, O’Neale could be a bit of a streaky shooter, and last season was a great example. In the playoffs, his numbers dropped to 5.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game on .318/.333/.000 shooting splits. He stepped up in Game 1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, scoring all 14 bench points for Phoenix on 5-of-10 shooting, but over the next three games, he put up a combined 6 points on 2-of-12 shooting.

That new four-year, $42 million contract certainly helped his decision, but the sting of that first-round sweep and the allure of what Phoenix was building ultimately brought him back for another go with the Suns.

“Definitely wanted to be here at the end of the season,” O’Neale said. “Taking that process, thinking it through, speaking with the team, the agency and everything, and it was just the best fit for me. I feel like after last year, we had a bad exit, and just running it back and adding more this year and being a part of something special that we have going on.”

The Suns will be hoping the 31-year-old can be a touch more consistent on a month-to-month basis than he was last year:

With that being said, Royce making 3s can be a difference-maker, especially with the unique way he can free himself up when he’s greeted with a recovering defender trying to contest his shot.

Royce O’Neale most trusted weapon is his slow, deliberate, undeniably effective pump fake. Because he’s a well-known spot-up shooter but not a primary threat, defenders often find themselves scrambling back to O’Neale after paying too much attention to the Big 3 by shading over or trapping them outright.

That’s when he goes to his diabolically funny pump fake, raising the ball up like he’s pulling it out of cement, watching as his defender sails by, and then side-stepping into an open look. He didn’t shoot well in those situations in Brooklyn, but his “simple but effective” move was a lot more effective in Phoenix:

“That’s my little special talent,” O’Neale said. “It gets me a lot of open 3s and drives for my teammates.”

That pump fake helps set his teammates up too. When the side-step 3 isn’t there, O’Neale knows how to put the ball on the ground and either probe the defense for cutters, draw in the low man before hitting a big in the dunker’s spot, or even suck in the help defense before finding an open 3-point shooter.

“His willingness to shoot has been great, but he’s also a guy that gets to a next action, keeps the ball moving, has an energy, has an IQ that can be really good for a team,” coach Mike Budenholzer said.

The ball finds energy, and O’Neale does a great job of keeping that kinetic energy going as an “extra pass” guy. Sometimes he’ll have a decent look, but he routinely turns down good shots for great ones by zipping the ball where it needs to go:

“I’d rather get an assist than a bucket, to be honest. We got a lot of guys on this team that can score. So, I mean, score myself, but just being a playmaker whenever I’m needed, getting these guys involved.”

That basketball IQ and willingness to pass as a guy who can keep the ball moving to the next action makes him a natural screener. His 2.7 assists per game don’t sound like much, but he can find open shooters or baseline cutters in the short roll.

O’Neale also slips screens pretty well, using all that extra space in the paint to draw in the help defense before spraying it back out to an open 3-point shooter. He can also slip the screen and pop back out to the 3-point line, at which point his gravity as a shooter opens things up for another extra pass to the open man.

“Being able to initiate and be a connective, small-ball 4, 3,” Kevin Durant described. “A guy you could throw the ball to and have him initiate the offense to get guys going, could play in the pocket a little bit and make those passes as well.”

However, we should note that Royce O’Neale’s value on the offensive end doesn’t usually extend inside the 3-point line. He can make smart passes in the short roll, but O’Neale really doesn’t have much leaping ability or touch around the rim.

He only shot 59 percent at the rim last season, and although that number jumped to 66 percent in his Suns stint, O’Neale is borderline allergic to attacking the basket. According to Cleaning The Glass, O’Neale ranked in the seventh percentile among wings in his frequency of shots at the rim, and he only took 77 shots at the rim total.

For comparison, he attempted 422 3s last year — nearly five times the amount of shots he attempted at the rim!

Thankfully, despite this apparent allergen to the rim, there are two ends of the floor, and O’Neale is just as helpful as a connective piece on that end as he is on offense.

Royce O’Neale’s defense

Royce O’Neale is no longer the lockdown defender he once was, but he still lives up to that 3-and-D label by being a communicative, switchable wing defender who doesn’t mind guarding bigger wings or even bigs.

“I think it does start with a defensive mentality, his willingness to guard and take the challenge,” Budenholzer said. “And not just on his own guy, but team-wise and communicate and cover.”

O’Neale isn’t exactly a free safety out there, but he’s got a good feel for where the ball will go next, and when he’s in position to make a play on it, he’s still capable of jumping those passing lanes.

According to The BBall Index, Royce ranked in the 64th percentile in passing lane defense last year, so don’t expect a ton of interceptions like these, but O’Neale understands rotations and he’s engaged on that end of the floor, which this team will need more of this season.

Although he’s only listed as 6-foot-6, O’Neale has no problem guarding up a position or even two. He’s looked lighter in preseason so far, and he said he changed his diet over the summer (including not eating candy anymore) to get in better shape.

But Royce still has the strength to stand his ground against wings trying to drive on him, and in a pinch, he can occasionally stonewall bigs trying to impose their will against an undersized 4. The Suns have more small-ball options than they did last year, but Royce can hold his own every now and then against bigs in the post, using his chest to play physical enough before swiping at the ball.

“I take a lot of pride in it, just taking the challenge every night, guarding 1-5, whoever I got to,” O’Neale said. “It doesn’t matter to me, I’m gonna just do me.”

Add all of it up, and you’ve got a two-way role player who can help any winning team. O’Neale’s former Utah Jazz coach, Quin Snyder said even that description isn’t doing him justice.

“I would hesitate to call him a role player,” Snyder said. “I’m sure he’d be fine with that, and he probably is that, but that sometimes belittles all the things that someone does. He has a lot of different roles, and I think that’s his greatest strength. His humility as a player and his competitiveness have always set him apart.”

Royce O’Neale probably isn’t a starting-caliber player on a team with playoff aspirations anymore, but having a two-way wing like that coming off the bench will undoubtedly help Phoenix. There may be nights where he’s called upon to close games, and his teammates saw the value he added right away after he was traded to the Suns.

“It’s hard to narrow it down to one thing, ’cause he just does a little bit of everything while he’s out there,” Devin Booker said. “Defensively, taking on his matchup, just being ready. And then he’s just that great piece where he’s running up, slipping out, moving the ball and then knocking down open shots.”

“IQ, can play with guys that can score the ball, almost his whole career, and an underrated passer,” Kevin Durant said. “Can shoot the basketball — just a basketball player, to be honest. A position-less basketball player that’s gonna help us out and fit in.”

It’s no wonder Phoenix posted a team-best +9.4 Net Rating with O’Neale on the court last season, and a team-worst -4.1 Net Rating when he sat.

Armed with a no-brainer contract extension, and going up against the hype over rookie Ryan Dunn, it’d be easy to forget what Royce O’Neale brings to the table. But there will be plenty of games this year where O’Neale quietly chips in 3-4 3-pointers, sound rotational defense and some swing-swing passes that remind fans how nice it is to have a utility guy like that in the second unit.

More 2024-25 Suns season previews

• Collin Gillespie: Written breakdown | Video breakdown
• TyTy Washington: Written breakdown | Video breakdown
• Jalen Bridges: Written breakdown | Video breakdown
• Ryan Dunn: Written breakdown | Video breakdown
• Oso Ighodaro: Written breakdown | Video breakdown
• Bol Bol: Written breakdown | Video breakdown
• Damion Lee: Written breakdown | Video breakdown
• Josh Okogie: Written breakdown | Video breakdown
• Monte Morris: Written breakdown | Video breakdown
• Mason Plumlee: Written breakdown | Video breakdown