PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns felt like they needed a move at the NBA trade deadline, and as the dust begins to settle, ESPN believes they made the right call in bringing in Royce O’Neale from the Brooklyn Nets:
“Phoenix badly needed two skills three weeks ago: (1) some perimeter defense and (2) corner shooters. Royce O’Neale, a career 38% shooter from deep and a solid wing stopper, brings both. With the Suns already having exhausted a ton of their resources into their Big Three, being able to land someone like O’Neale for a handful of second-rounders is a win. That was evident in Phoenix’s victory over the Lakers, against whom O’Neale logged 20 points, 9 boards and 4 assists in his first start,” wrote Chris Herring.
“It’s still early yet, but the Suns’ four-man lineup of O’Neale, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic — as Bradley Beal remains out with a hamstring injury — is beating opponents by 7.5 points per 100 possessions through 28 minutes.”
O’Neale has been a fairly strong addition to the Suns, already starting two games for Phoenix and proving the defense/shooting coach Frank Vogel coveted on the wing behind guys such as Grayson Allen and Kevin Durant.
In exchange, the Suns dumped four players (Yuta Watanabe, Jordan Goodwin, Keita Bates-Diop and Chimezie Metu) who wouldn’t have cracked the postseason rotation anyways.
O’Neale was listed as one of out potential x-factors as the postseason nears. You can read more below:
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