Welcome to our Phoenix Suns Season in Review series, where we revisit every player who suited up during the 2025–26 campaign through the lens of expectation, reality, and what it ultimately meant.
Player Snapshot
- Position: SF/PF
- Age: 32
- 2026-27 Contract Status: $10.9 million
- SunsRank (Preseason): 7
- SunsRank (Postseason): 9
*SunsRank is based on Bright Side writers’ ranking.
Season in One Sentence
Royce O’Neale somehow represented everything the Suns did well this season, but also everything they were missing.
By the Numbers
The Expectation
Coming into this season, we expected O’Neale to be one of the Suns’ best 3-point shooters and a positive contributor defensively, as a marginal
rotation player.
The Reality
O’Neale was an integral part of the Suns’ rotation this season because of his shooting and connectivity on bot ends of the floor, but his time as a plus defender has faded with age, and his lack of athleticism was exploited because he was asked to play a role he is no longer suited for.
What It Means
Moving forward, the Suns need to find more athleticism than they have from Dillon Brooks and Royce O’Neale on the front line. O’Neale was asked to be a power forward this season despite being another 6’5” player on the roster. If the Suns expect to ascend as a team, filling his role with someone who has more athleticism and defensive capability might be the most important thing to accomplish on the Suns’ checklist this offseason.
Whether that player comes in a trade for an Aaron Gordon or Cam Johnson type player, in the draft, or Rasheer Fleming taking a sophomore leap. O’Neale is another flawed but valuable player the Suns have on the roster and will be on the trading block all summer because of his contract, 3-point shooting, veteran poise, and high IQ.
Defining Moment
O’Neale’s most memorable moment is easy.
Grade: A-
Now this grade might be way, way, way too high and a shock to the system for many of you reading this. I know what the numbers and the advanced analytics say about Royce O’Neale. What the Suns asked him to be this year, compared to his ability, may have been the widest gap on the roster this season. In my grading for O’Neale, I am not going to penalize him for being asked to bite off more than he can chew. For what the Suns are paying O’Neale and at his age, he outperformed expectations this season despite being an obviously flawed player on an obviously flawed team.
O’Neale had a career year in scoring, shot over 40% from the three-point line, and started 67 games for the Phoenix Suns this season. Heading into the season, every Suns fan or team member would have signed up for what O’Neale produced this year, even if we disagreed about him getting minutes over Ryan Dunn and Fleming.
He has his flaws, which were glaring this season when it came to rebounding and defending on the ball. His weaknesses were only exacerbated by a poorly constructed roster that forced him into a role he simply cannot fill anymore. For the Suns to continue to ascend, he will need to have a diminished role next season, but this season, O’Neale was integral to the Suns’ success. There was a reason Jordan Ott continually chose the grizzled 10-year veteran despite his limitations.
The Suns won 10 more games this season than last year and started O’Neale in place of Kevin Durant. That alone locks in a high grade from me.
