ESPN’s Marks: Royce O’Neale’s contract details show bargain for Suns

Suns owner Mat Ishbia will eat millions of tax dollars just to retain forward Royce O’Neale, who agreed to re-sign with Phoenix with free agency on the table this offseason.

If we’re to shrug at how Ishbia cares to spend his money, ESPN’s Bobby Marks called a four-year, $42 million contract a bargain.

The $40 million in additional tax penalties to retain O’Neale should disqualify the forward from the list. But considering the financial predicament Phoenix is in and the impact O’Neale has on the court, a first-year salary of $9.4 million is good value. O’Neale is one of four players to record 150 3-pointers, 50 steals and 40 blocks in each of the past two seasons, along with Anthony Edwards, Keegan Murray and Jayson Tatum.

Marks also points to O’Neale’s availability as valuable, with the wing’s 456 games played since the 2018-19 season trailing just New York Knicks wing Mikal Bridges and Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield.

Let’s take a step back and trace how Phoenix got O’Neale.

Suns set themselves up to re-sign Royce O’Neale on new contract

In the offseason before 2023-24, the Suns inked a handful of veteran minimum contracts and acquired another small salary of Jordan Goodwin in the Bradley Beal acquisition.

It was calculated at least. Either some of those players would work out, or the Suns could package them for a rotation player before they lost that ability under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement second-apron rules.

Bol Bol worked out.

Others did not, but the Suns added a reliable rotation player — just in a more complicated way. Phoenix traded for O’Neale by packaging three second-round picks along with most of those players: Goodwin, Keita Bates-Diop, Chimezie Metu and Yuta Watanabe.

Even though O’Neale was about to become a free agent, the Suns were still thinking steps ahead. Trading for him meant they acquired his Bird rights, meaning they could retain him at any cost above the multiple tax lines, as long as they were willing to pay the tax rates.

They’ve done that for a player who arguably could have pushed for salaries starting in the $12 million range.

The 31-year-old O’Neale averaged 8.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists for Phoenix last year.

And with the financial restrictions, the Suns also now have a contract and a tradeable player down the road.

It’s the same idea with re-signed guard Josh Okogie, who reportedly agreed to a two-year, $16 million contract with a team option on the backend, allowing the player to receive good money and the team to have the ability to get off the deal via trade.

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