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Richmond, Va. • Trey Burke was asleep when the Washington Wizards traded for him. If you're looking for a metaphor about his NBA career, you could do worse than that.

Burke, the 2013 men's college basketball player of the year at Michigan, had fallen into a deep professional slumber. After just three pro seasons, he knew the Utah Jazz "already had pushed me out." At the end of last season, he couldn't get playing time in a rotation that included Shelvin Mack and Raul Neto. Burke didn't play in 12 of the final 14 games.

He was 20 years old when he entered the league as the No. 9 overall pick of the 2013 draft. Now he was irrelevant. And then the phone rang. It was his agent. It was his second chance.

"You know when you first wake up out of a dream, how you might think it's a dream still?" Burke said. "That's how I felt."

Since that call early on July 3, Burke has relished this awakening. He is no longer the potential franchise player who flopped in embarrassing fashion. He is the backup to an all-star, John Wall, in Washington, D.C. Instead of viewing that role as a humbling ceiling to a career once headed for stardom, Burke looks it as an opportunity to learn and reinvent himself. He is 23, but he is trying to answer a most adult question while attempting to become a useful professional: Who am I?

He is not the star he seemed to be during his two collegiate seasons. He doesn't want to be the erratic player who shot just 38.4 percent over his first three NBA seasons, played poor defense and couldn't keep a steady role in Utah.

So, who is he?

"That's a great question, because that's something I had to ask myself," Burke said while pondering.

Burke admits he wasn't ready for the NBA. He entered the draft after his sophomore season, and while his game was good enough to make him a lottery pick, he wasn't prepared to lead a franchise. He wasn't prepared to be a grown-up, either.

"Man, it was something I had to mature through," Burke said. "I was 20 years old when I came out. You think you're ready at that age, but it's not just basketball. It's the things off the court. It's the mental pressures, dealing with the small stuff that people don't see on TV.

"It's distractions, man. Family. Having to deal with finances for the first time in your life, having to pay bills, dealing with tickets. It's not anything very huge, but it's a bunch of little things that play a big part. Coming in, you're not ready for that. In your mind, you might think you're ready. But a fifth-year college senior or a guy who has graduated is more prepared than a guy who left after his first or second year. That's just real. You've really got to make sure you're ready with all the pressures that come with being a professional player."

In 2014, Burke suffered his most humiliating moment, after a woman leaked nude photos of him just before the start of training camp. He apologized publicly, but his immaturity frustrated Jazz management and fans. The team selected another point guard, Dante Exum, with the fifth pick of the 2014 draft. Burke let the competition mess with his head, and his playing style - he is a ball-dominant guard - clashed with Coach Quin Snyder's preference to play a motion offense full of spacing, reads and passing.

"Mentally, it was all a real challenge for me," said Burke, who played under Tyrone Corbin as a rookie before Snyder took over. "But this is my fourth year. I feel like I'm more mature, and I can handle everything that this league calls for. Coming in that young, anybody, I feel like, is going to go through some growing pains. For me, I feel like I'm still a young player with a lot of potential."

Burke is in a contract year and playing for a new team that might be able to accentuate his skills better. His role is clearly defined with Wall ahead of him. So Burke doesn't have to worry about trying to play 35 minutes a game. But perhaps he can show value as an attacking point guard in a 20-minute role.

No doubt, this is a significant reclamation project. Burke has to shoot better, and he showed some encouraging signs last year, posting career highs in field goal percentage (41.3) and three-point percentage (34.4). As he fought to prove himself in Utah, Burke turned into a shoot-first player, trying to score his way into more playing time. He has always been a scorer, but he'll need to create more for others, which might come if he is secure about having Coach Scott Brooks' trust. Most importantly, he must improve defensively, where the undersized, 6-foot-1 Burke rated among the worst point guards in the league last season.

The Wizards think their system and structure will help Burke prosper. They like that Burke is a player hungry to prove he is better than he showed with the Jazz.

"I like guys that have a little bit of a chip, and he does," Brooks said. "He knows that he didn't have the start that he would've liked to have in his NBA career. He's a very good player, and he's going to have a great role here."

After considering the "Who am I?" question, Burke decided that, while understanding his role, he doesn't believe he should limit himself. He still aspires to be an all-star in the future, but for now, he is happy complementing Wall and Bradley Beal.

"The Wizards told me to just be myself, be that spark off the bench, create for others and for myself and just play my game," said Burke, who has career averages of 12.1 points and 4.2 assists per game. "That's the best part. I don't have to change. I just have to be the best version of myself. The drama at the start of my career, it didn't make me lower my standard. I'm still thinking big, just in a different way.

"I already feel more at home here. I already feel more like me."

His eyes danced as he spoke. For certain, Burke is awake again.