Utah Jazz: Royce O’Neale signed two-year deal with Nike during off-season

According to Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News, Utah Jazz swingman Royce O’Neale signed a two-year deal with Nike during the off-season.

Royce O’Neale, the undrafted wing out of Baylor, burst onto the scene last season with the Utah Jazz. Not only was he a key contributor to a playoff team, but Royce also gained a lot of popularity. Hanging around with Donovan Mitchell, his good friend and teammate, certainly helped that.

That popularity reportedly helped him cash in a deal with Nike. Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News announced on Thursday that Royce had signed a two-year deal with them this off-season.

Jazz swingman Royce O’Neale signed a two-year deal with Nike this offseason. As a rookie, he split time wearing Adidas and Nike.
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) October 4, 2018

As Woodyard noted in the tweet above, last season, O’Neale primarily wore Nike and Adidas shoes. With this new deal, O’Neale will only sport Nike shoes this season. Nike is the most popular brand out there.

This is just a terrific accomplishment for O’Neale, who as noted, went undrafted back in 2015. He had to play overseas for many years before finally getting his shot from Dennis Lindsey and the Utah Jazz. Lindsey went to Baylor, and his son is currently attending the university, so Lindsey obviously was aware of Royce.

SACRAMENTO, CA – JANUARY 17: The sneakers belonging to Royce O’Neale #23 of the Utah Jazz in a game against the Sacramento Kings on January 17, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)

Joe Ingles is getting older, so O’Neale could realistically be Utah’s small forward of the future. He’s more of a shooting guard size-wise, but due to his terrific defensive fundamentals, he will never have a problem playing the three in the NBA. I wish Joe Ingles would play for the Jazz forever, but his time in Utah will come to an end one way or another and hopefully the Jazz will have their replacement in O’Neale.

Through the first few games of the preseason, O’Neale has averaged 3.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Not huge numbers by any means, but it’s only the preseason and O’Neale is a better player than his overall statistics show.

Congrats to Royce for signing with Nike!