Suns Snag Rave Reviews For Trade Deadline Moves

The dust has finally settled from the 2024 NBA trade deadline, and the Phoenix Suns walked away as massive winners after acquiring Royce O'Neale from the Brooklyn Nets and David Roddy from the Memphis Grizzlies in a three-team deal.

In exchange, the Suns sent out four players (Yuta Watanabe, Keita Bates-Diop, Chimezie Metu and Jordan Goodwin) along with multiple second-round picks.

Various outlets raved about Phoenix's haul:

CBS Sports: B+ 

"Give the Suns credit. They more or less exhausted all of their draft capital in landing Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, but they got creative in squeezing out a few more assets knowing that they'd need help at the deadline. Throughout the offseason, they picked up spare second-round picks here and there by offering swap rights on top of swap rights they'd already traded, essentially dooming their first-round pick prospects for the foreseeable future, but also giving them just enough left in the cupboard to land a viable 3-and-D wing in Royce O'Neale at the deadline. Phoenix is fully in all-in mode, so as desperate as its future might look, it did a far better job of actually achieving its goal than it looked like it would be able to."

Bleacher Report: A+ 

"Snagging O'Neale for second-round picks and minimum contracts without including one of your two best salary-matching assets (Grayson Allen or Nassir Little) is, in no uncertain terms, a home run for the Suns. They won't have the ability to aggregate salaries starting this offseason. Taking advantage of it now, while preserving more useful standalone salaries, is good housekeeping.

"O'Neale is a notch or two slower than he used to be and shouldn't be guarding elite players at the point of attack. But he can still get up and make threes and rumble with opposing 2s, 3s and 4s—a body of work that gives him member-of-the-closing-unit potential. Roddy is a quirky-sort of player who still in search of a concrete archetype. He's a fine flier, positionally, for a team just trying to dredge up worthwhile, if stab-in-the-dark, options.

"Lament the inclusion of so many second-rounders if you must. The Suns have Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. Grabbing someone who can rank as one of their five to seven most dependable rotation players is more valuable than mystery-box picks outside the first round."

Sporting News: B+ 

"The Suns had very little to make moves with, but they found a way to add two players who could add to the weakest part of their rotation. 

"O'Neale is a solid defender and good 3-point shooter who has canned 36.6 percent of his looks from deep this season. Roddy is in a similar mold in theory, but he's hit only 30.4 percent of his 3s over his two-year career and has been a bit of a disappointment. He's a burly player who can give the team some defensive versatility, though."

ESPN: A-

"Aside from Phoenix's stars, O'Neale might be the strongest role player on the roster with balanced contributions at both ends. Limited because of his 6-4 stature and lack of athleticism, O'Neale is certainly a better defender than the Suns' best shooters (Grayson Allen and Eric Gordon), and with his career 38% from 3, he is more of a perimeter threat than Phoenix stoppers Josh Okogie (27% this year) and Bates-Diop (31%).

"Since O'Neale isn't elite at either end of the court, it's possible he's squeezed out of Phoenix's postseason finishing five in favor of Okogie for defense or Allen's superior shooting. (Allen leads the NBA by making 49% of his 3s this season.) Still, O'Neale has a better chance of finishing games than a point guard who would have been stuck spotting up with the Suns' offense running through Bradley Beal and Devin Booker."