Utah’s Royce O’Neale, beneficiary of a new four-year, $36 million contract from the Jazz, is a great example. O’Neale is the fastest guy on Utah’s roster, generally Quin Snyder’s choice for the quick-twitch point guards the Jazz see. The Jazz succeed on the defensive glass despite playing exclusively in small-ball lineups, and O’Neale drives a lot of that. Utah’s defensive rebounding percentage with him on the floor would rank in the league’s top three; without him, it drops to a bottom-10 rate. Had the Jazz and O’Neale not been able to come to terms, he would have entered restricted free agency in July.

Source: Forbes January 20, 2020 14:00 UTC