The trajectory of Royce O’Neale’s 2022-23 season blended right in with how the campaign has unfolded for the Nets.

There was one version before the trade deadline.

And once Feb. 9 arrived, whatever stability that early-season rendition provided was erased, and an adjustment followed.

That’s why the circumstance itself — O’Neale in the Nets’ starting lineup — wasn’t surprising Wednesday.

He started his first 52 games with Brooklyn following an offseason deal from Utah.

But when Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant were traded away, O’Neale also disappeared from the starting five — until Dorian Finney-Smith’s wrist injury prompted Jacque Vaughn to insert O’Neale back into the starting lineup in the Nets’ 123-108 victory over Detroit.

He played his most minutes since Jan. 12, scored 15 points, grabbed seven rebounds, picked up eight assists and blocked two shots, igniting the Nets by filling a variety of roles and flashing the all-around skill set that past coaches, including Baylor head coach Scott Drew, have witnessed.

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“He had an elite talent to begin with and an NBA skill set, and that was his passing and his feel for the game,” Drew told The Post in a phone interview Thursday. “It’s at that level. What I think he did throughout his career [at Baylor], and then when he went to Europe, was he really improved his athleticism and he always had the toughness and when his body was right, he then became an elite defender as well.

“So now he had two NBA skills.”

Drew had a glance of O’Neale’s full potential when Baylor played West Virginia — known for its physicality and rebounding — in a February 2015 showdown.

But O’Neale grabbed rebounds despite size disadvantages — he “doesn’t care if a guy’s 6-9 or 6-10,” Drew said — and when the Bears opened that game with a 23-3 run, O’Neale recorded five points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block across that nine-minute stretch.

O’Neale’s development continued once he signed with the Jazz, following a stint playing overseas.

Drew sent recruits clips of O’Neale’s dunks and athletic plays, and he observed his former player from the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons spark ball movement while also guarding top opposing players.

“I mean, when he’s guarding James Harden, when he’s matching up against the other team’s best player, you can see the trust they had in him and his defense,” Drew told The Post.

That all transferred over to the Nets this season.

Even after O’Neale was swapped out of the starting lineup, he still had a role — and an important one, averaging 26 minutes per game as the Nets’ sixth man.

It was just different.

His contributions Wednesday allowed the Nets to get “kick-aheads” and move the ball from one side of the floor to the other, Vaughn said.

That occurred when Detroit’s defense — specifically 6-foot-11 Jalen Duren and 7-0 James Wiseman — reacted.

“Royce being with that group gives us an additional ball-handler,” Vaughn said following the Nets’ win. “We initiated and let Royce be a point guard, even tonight with the second unit.”

O’Neale and Spencer Dinwiddie, who tied his career-high with 16 assists, unlocked the Nets’ offense and combined for 24 assists, a mark the Nets as a team had failed to reach in 28 games this year.

It marked the ninth time in his NBA career that O’Neale recorded seven or more assists, per the Nets, and all but one of those have occurred this season.

The previous seven this season came before the trade deadline.

Since leaving the starting lineup, O’Neale topped four assists in a game just twice.

The price the Nets paid for O’Neale — a 2023 first-round pick — and therefore the expectations were sizable entering the year.

Not necessarily for points, given the presence of Durant and Irving, but, rather, something else.

Anything else.

Maybe rebounds.

Maybe assists.

A way to distract defenses from the Nets’ superstars and impact both ends of the court, too.

The Nets are entirely different from when they first acquired O’Neale.

There’s no Durant.

No Irving, either.

But Wednesday demonstrated his importance to the Nets and any run they produce in the postseason — a reminder of O’Neale’s old role compared to his new one, and what the perfect balance of the two can provide moving forward.