NBA's struggling scorers: 5 stars playing below their best in 2024-25 season

Modified Dec 31, 2024 20:30 GMT

NBA: Miami Heat at Indiana Pacers - Source: Imagn — 5 NBA stars who are playing below expectations this season (Photo credits: IMAGN)

Each season in the NBA brings about a lot of change in just about every level and players are rising and falling annually. Sometimes, stars who are expected to make a big splash suddenly fall short of expectations, or cool off after a good season or injury.

2024 is no different as some players appear to be struggling or not meeting expectations. Here are five such:

5 NBA stars who are playing below their best this season

#1, Dejounte Murray

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Dejounte Murray generated some buzz when he was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans. There were expectations that he would thrive without Trae Young as the primary ball-handler.

However, the exact opposite seemed to happen for Murray. The two-way specialist is performing worse than in the two seasons he spent with the Atlanta Hawks. He is averaging 16.2 points and is shooting career lows.

On an average of 16.3 attempts per game, he is making 36.5%. This is the first time that his shooting percentage has dipped below 40%. The same struggles apply to his 3-pointers. He is making only 27.5% from beyond the arc when he made over 30% in the last five seasons.

#2, Bam Adebayo

Three-time NBA All-Star Bam Adebayo appears to have slowed down just a bit this season. For the first time in his career, his field goal percentage has dipped beneath the 50% mark as he is only making 45.0% of his attempts.

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That is still a high rate of makes, but because he made 54.7% of his shot attempts in his first season, it's not an encouraging stat. This has resulted in his scoring average dipping to 16.1 per game this season. Last season he put up 19.3 ppg and the season before last was 20.4 ppg.

#3, Bradley Beal

There was a time when Bradley Beal was one of the NBA's most elite scorers. During his time with the Washington Wizards, there were two straight campaigns wherein he averaged over 30 ppg (2019-20 & 2020-21).

Last season which was his first with the Phoenix Suns, he averaged 18.2 points per game. It was the first time that his points-per-game average fell under 20 in seven seasons. Some of that could be attributed to a back injury that kept him sidelined at the start of the year.

This year, Beal has performed a smidge better than last, putting up 19.0 ppg, but it is not up to par with what fans expect. Beal is only 31 years old so his numbers should not be falling below par, especially because defensive attention isn't fully on him.

#4, Tyrese Haliburton

Tyrese Haliburton (Photo Credits: IMAGN)

The last two seasons have been the best in Tyrese Haliburton's NBA career from a statistical standpoint. He averaged 20 ppg for the first time in 2022-23 and continued that into 2023-24. Furthermore, he averaged a double-double, putting up 10.4 assists in '22-'23 and a league-leading 10.9 apg in '23-'24.

Haliburton was about to enter his prime. Those numbers were meant to go up but instead, his production declined this year and he is averaging 17.8 ppg and 8.7 apg.

The good news is that development in the NBA isn't always a steady climb. Sometimes, players experience down seasons and what matters is how Haliburton bounces back.

#5, Paul George

Even All-NBA caliber talent have to succumb to father time at some point and it seems like it's Paul George's turn. Without taking into consideration the 2014-15 season where he only played six games, George has averaged over 20 ppg every season since 2013-14.

This year though, he is putting up 15.8 ppg. Perhaps he can bounce back for another good year as veterans experience career resurgences all the time.