New Phoenix Suns Royce O'Neale, David Roddy adjusting to 'crash course'

The onboarding process was a quick one for Royce O'Neale and David Roddy with the Phoenix Suns.

It was more so for O'Neale than the second-year Roddy in their Suns debut in the team's loss at the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. Next for O'Neale, Roddy and the mostly healthy Suns roster, was hosting Pacific Division opponent Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night, then the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday before the All-Star break.

The 30-year-old O'Neale and Roddy, 22, were acquired last week prior to the NBA trade deadline, O'Neale from the Brooklyn Nets and Roddy from the Memphis Grizzlies.

Suns coach Frank Vogel spoke at Monday's practice about the pedigree and outlook for O'Neale and Roddy moving forward.

“Both of those guys enhanced what we’re trying to do," Vogel said. "Royce in particular is going to have a bigger role than David right away. David provides some depth in a young prospect that can, if we’re depleted, throw him in there and give us a spark plug from time to time, but Royce we see as a rotational player.”

Vogel said O'Neale and Roddy will have to get acclimated to the team quickly, something that began prior to this week's back-to-back games and will continue after All-Star weekend.

“We’re gonna have a crash course," Vogel said. "They’re doing stuff (Monday). They’re gonna do stuff tomorrow (Tuesday) morning before the (Sacramento) game, and then once they hit the break, they’ll be on break, and then we’ll come back and get right back after that type of stuff, the integration type of stuff. Hopefully the transition will be seamless at that point.”

O'Neale was traded just once before in his career, in June 2022 from the Utah Jazz, where he spent the first five years of his career, to Brooklyn. But that wasn't midseason like now.

“First time being traded at the deadline. New team, new situation fast," O'Neale said at practice Monday, about the latest trade. "Still day by day, slow process. Got two more games to play, then come back, get acclimated more and be ready to roll.”

O'Neale likely will spend time during the All-Star break watching more film about the Suns, Vogel said.

"For sure, learn the offense more, defense more, games to see how they play to teams previous and going further, just watching film seeing how to get an advantage," Vogel said.

O'Neale contributed three points, four rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block and one turnover in 11 minutes off the bench against Golden State last Saturday.

Vogel and Bradley Beal both called O'Neale a "pro" and a playoff battle-tested veteran.

O'Neale was one of Utah's top role players when it was among the West's top teams for several years until 2021, after which the team was broken up. He was part of Brooklyn's second unit as it was swept in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last year against Philadelphia.

Beal said O'Neale already was vocal and holding his new teammates accountable, despite being new to the roster.

“When you’ve played on multiple teams who had success and guys who are successful at playing with other stars, like, he knows what to do, he knows what his role is," Beal said about O'Neale. "He even came in and challenged me in the Golden State game and challenged us to communicate a little bit better than we were. That’s just a testament to him.”

Vogel looks at O'Neale as an 'intangibles guy" who can help improve the Suns' defense, and Roddy having the potential to do the same.

O’Neale had the Nets’ sixth-best defensive rating (117) in his 49 appearances with the team this season, and Roddy had the Grizzlies' best 116.7 in 48 games played.

"We’ve got to continue to grow in all areas, especially if we have another gear, another level we can reach defensively," Vogel said. "I think we’re ranked 16th. We were two days ago, 16th in the NBA defensively.

"We’re a team built around offensive firepower that has to learn to compete on the defensive side of the ball because if the offensive talent we have plays team-first offensive basketball, that really honors the defensive side of the ball as well. We got a chance to do something special.”

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns coach Vogel explains O'Neale, Roddy adjusting to team after trade