Around the NBA: Phoenix Suns giving and receiving

The Suns under General Manager Ryan McDonough have been in an especially giving mood. Since he's taken over, the Suns have given away, in one form or another, 10 players from the 2012-13 roster. Some of these players were let go after their contracts expired, some of them were cut and some of them were traded.

How are these players doing? Well, most of them are doing pretty well.

LAC

McDonough's first big move was giving away Jared Dudley, a Suns fan-favorite who had done a lot for the team since arriving in the Valley, along with a second round pick. The Clippers got Dudley, who - along with J.J. Redick who they acquired from Milwaukee in the deal - was meant to upgrade the perimeter shooting of the team and provide all-important floor spacing.

However, things haven't gone quite as the Clippers had hoped. Redick has missed a lot of time with an injury, Dudley has been struggling with his shot and the Clippers are only up one game in the loss column on the upstart Suns.

Dudley is averaging 8.7 points on 43.9 percent from the field, 34.7 percent from 3-point land and 70.3 percent from the free-throw line on the season, and his numbers across the board have been about as low as they have been in his career. Even Dudley himself admitted how much he was struggling on Twitter.

I just have to apologize to all clipper fans by my play this season! I been playing like s****. It's been downright embarrassing!

— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) December 13, 2013

I will continue to stay in the gym and make the necessary adjustments.. I will play better, just going through a tough stretch.

— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) December 13, 2013

Well, to Dudley's credit, he has been true to his word. In the seven games since his apology, Dudley is averaging 11.1 points on 49.2 percent from the field, 42.4 percent from deep and 80 percent from the line with three rebounds and 1.1 steals per game and is sporting an 11-6 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Dudley is a good player, and good players help teams win. Redick will get healthy, Dudley will continue to rediscover his shooting touch and the Clippers are going to be a playoff team. Despite the early returns, this was a good gift from the Suns to the Clippers.

WAS

McDonough had a last-second gift for the Washington Wizards as well, as he gave them a starting center in The Polish [insert noun here] Marcin Gortat.

The Wizards' shiny new toy has been huge for them this season. Gortat is averaging 12.8 points and 9.0 rebounds and is second only to John Wall on the team in on/off court differential. Even more importantly for an injury-wracked squad, Gortat is the only player on the team other than Wall who has played in all 25 games this year.

The Wizards wanted to make the playoffs this year, and to do that they knew they needed a center. McDonough was generous enough to help them out, and now the Wizards are sitting in the sixth spot in the (awful, awful) Eastern Conference.

McDonough also sent Kendall Marshall and Shannon Brown to the Warriors, but he had the foresight to send the receipts with in case the Wizards - who already had a full roster - wanted to return them. And return them they did, as both players were cut immediately after the deal went down. Brown has yet to find a team, but Kendall Marshall recently got picked up by the Los Angeles Lakers. He has appeared in two games for the Lakers and is putting up terrific numbers with 10.8 points, 0.0 assists and 14.4 turnovers per 36 minutes.

IND

Luis Scola had a productive 2012-13 season for the Suns after the team picked him up off the amnesty waiver wire, but there really wasn't any reason for him to stick around for this season. So McDonough regifted him to a team that needed him more: the Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers featured a strong starting five a year ago, but their bench was exposed in the playoffs. Scola, along with C.J. Watson, were brought in to give them a little more punch off the pine, and Scola has been terrific in that role.

Scola is averaging 8.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in 18 minutes per game. In fact, per 36 he is posting nearly identical numbers as he did last year with the Suns. The difference is he's doing it much more efficiently, as he is shooting 53.3 percent from the field.

The Pacers have the best record in the Eastern conference at this point in the season, and Scola has been a big part of that. McDonough got them exactly what they wanted.

White Elephant Gifts

The remaining players weren't nearly as expensive or significant. In fact, they were more gag gifts than anything. However, some of them actually worked out.

Hamed Haddadi was given away to some basketball team not in the NBA. Diante Garrett was given away and later picked up by the Utah Jazz, where he has been pretty much the same player as he was with the Suns (capable of putting up some points and assists but struggling to make shots. After a year with the Phoenix training staff to revitalize his career, Jermaine O'Neal was given away to a team poised to make a playoff run in the Golden State Warriors. Unfortunately for them, Phoenix didn't send Aaron Nelson along with him and he's been hurt most of the year.

Wesley Johnson was picked up by the Los Angeles Lakers after the Suns let him go. He's still doing Wesley Johnson things, but he's at least been doing them a little bit better. Finally, Ryan McDonough gave himself, the organization and the entire fan base a present by cutting Michael Beasley, Surprisingly, Beasley has been a fairly useful player for the Heat this season.

Not Just a Giver

Ryan McDonough has been awfully generous this season, and good things come to those that do good by others. Fr everything he's given, he's gotten something of equal or greater value back. Eric Bledsoe, Miles Plumlee, Gerald Green and a couple draft picks turned out to be a pretty nice haul, and it's paying off in a big way for the Suns.

Ryan McDonough has showed a great propensity for working out trades that benefit everyone involved, and that bodes well for the future as the Suns continue to get better and better.

Merry Christmas every one. The holiday season truly is one of the best times of the year.