NBA: 11 Players and teams that have gotten off to frighteningly bad starts

New York Knicks Julius Randle (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
New York Knicks Julius Randle (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
4 of 11
Scoot Henderson
Scoot Henderson (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Scoot Henderson, Portland Trail Blazers

At least part of the reason why Damian Lillard ended up demanding a trade away from the Portland Trail Blazers this offseason was due to the fact that they refused to trade away the third overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft in an attempt to add veteran talent. In the end, the Blazers believed that pick was too valuable. Instead of moving the pick for a veteran difference-maker, the Blazers used it to select Scoot Henderson – possibly their new face of the franchise.

While that could still end up being the case, it hasn’t been a great start to his career. Through the first four games of the season for the Blazers, Scoot is averaging just eight points and three rebounds on 33 percent shooting from the field and six percent shooting from 3-point range.

No matter how much he’s struggled so far this season, you can’t imagine those are the types of numbers that are going to stick. However, to say that it’s been a difficult transition for Scoot early on would be an understatement.