In his second year in the league and with the Jazz, Royce O'Neale further established himself as a solid 3-and-D wing player and valuable bench piece. The undrafted Baylor product played in all 82 games, starting 16 of them, and averaged 20.4 minutes per game after logging 16.7 minutes per contest in his rookie season. O'Neale made the most of his time on the floor, knocking down 1.5 three-pointers per 36 minutes at a 38.6 percent clip. He also averaged 1.2 steals per 36 minutes as well as 6.1 rebounds, which is impressive given his 6-foot-6 frame. On a per-game basis, the 26-year-old finished with averages of 5.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He logged one double-double all year, going for 16 points and 11 rebounds in a Jan. 18 win over Cleveland. His season-high for scoring season was 17 points, which he accomplished three times. O'Neale did see his playing time fluctuate somewhat all season, as he played 20 or more minutes 40 times (including 11 games with at least 30 minutes), but he also played fewer than 20 minutes 42 times (including 10 games where he saw fewer than 10 minutes on the court). The Jazz trusted O'Neale in the playoffs, however. In the final four games of a five-game series loss against Houston, he played at least 26 minutes in each contest, including more than 32 minutes in each of the last two games of the year.

An undrafted free agent out of Baylor, O'Neale linked up with the Utah Jazz and ended up appearing in 69 games during his rookie campaign. O'Neale averaged 5.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in those contests, which included four starts. O'Neale shot 42.3 percent from the field, including 35.6 percent from three-point land, and scored 10 or more points on 11 occasions. He recorded a career-high 19 points against the Suns on Feb. 14, a game where he went a perfect 3-of-3 from downtown. O'Neale also appeared in 11 playoff games for the Jazz as a rookie and was particularly useful during the Western Conference Semifinals against the Houston Rockets -- he averaged 30 minutes per game during that series, where he posted 10.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals per game. O'Neale registered 17 points in two of the last three games of the series.