Struggling with the recovery from wrist surgery performed in the summer of 2014, his health woes were compounded by a lower-body injury that had him out of the lineup for most of the month of December.
He was also left on the shelf by an unimpressed coaching staff on numerous occasions as his offensive production was not close to the 42 points he had achieved in 65 games in 2013-14, and miles off his point-per-game pace in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season that seemed to herald his return to stardom; a showing that earned the Russian winger a five-year, $35-million contract.