BRUNSON BURNER: to NYK for 4yrs/$104M (no SnT) | NYK docked 2025 2nd for tampering

[KillerLeft]

I have some sense that Luka might feel a little threatened at the idea of a loss of usage, after two years of being 1st team NBA etc.

This is certainly possible, but what I think is more likely is that he has a lot of learning yet to do in situations where he doesn't have complete control over the offense. Carlisle first tried Luka at the 4, if you remember, and he didn't really take off until he was allowed to play PG. From there, I think we can piece together through context that most roster decisions (from the old team) were made with this approach in mind, and I think doing things this way allowed Luka to do things he already knew how to do, if that makes sense. 

Another way of saying it: we've always assumed that Carlisle's choices were the result of nobody being around who could do anything, but what if they were actually designed to make Luka's early growth easier for him? And what if what we're seeing now are the growing pains (as he adjusts to a wider variety of responsibilities on both ends) that we would typically have seen in years 1-3? 

I don't mean to suggest that Luka didn't bring any off-ball experience to the table when he was drafted, but he made his All NBA bones by being ball-dominant. Your implication that he might not be thrilled to give up the ball might be right on the mark, but it could also just be that he's going through a more difficult adjustment with it than we recognize, not due to attitude but simply due to his ability or understanding of what to do in certain situations. If that's the case, I like Luka's chances of coming out looking great again, sooner or later.