BRIGHTON -- Things are really new for Kemba Walker in Boston.

New teammates.

“We like each other”

New puppy.

“I’m a dog lover now”

New city.

"I definitely get lost about three times a day”

And also a new role.

Scroll through your memories of this preseason and aside from a couple of nice 3-pointers, Kemba Walker has been mostly quiet. As storylines unfold for nearly every other player on this team, Walker has been content to become part of the background scenery.

He’s taken 13 shots in two preseason games this year. Last year he took 10 shots per preseason game.

It might be odd for a guy who just got a max contract to be the face of a new franchise, but Walker is looking forward to doing less this year.

“It takes a lot of pressure off me,” Walker said after the team’s practice on Monday. "I’m getting a lot of different shots as well, but I’m loving it, not having to do so much all the time. Hopefully my usage rate might be going down a little bit. It allows other guys to make plays and I can appreciate that for sure.”

Usage rate is a measure of how many possessions a player uses while he’s on the floor. Last season, Walker’s was at 31.5 percent, ninth-highest in the league. That’s more than notoriously ball-dominant players like Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, and Kevin Durant.

The ball was in his hands a lot. It’s what helped him average 25.6 points per game and earn a third team All-NBA spot. Walker took 20 shots per game for the first time in his career. Does he really want to give up having the ball that much?

“I mean… yes," he said with a laugh. "It will though. We just have so much talent around us. And just not having to do so much. I’ve done a lot over the course of my career. So, yeah.”

The semantics matter when it comes to Walker. The wording when he talks about “not having not do so much” is meaningful. Some players are ball hogs. Some want the glory. Walker, clearly, was simply asked to do it all in Charlotte. For an almost 30-year-old guard who is on the smaller side, a reduction in his role almost certainly involves some level of self-preservation that can extend a career.

At the same time, he now has the luxury of that choice. He now has teammates who can carry more of the load, and they are all willing to do so.

“We get along together very well, and I think that’s really important," Walker said. "We’re working hard each and every day. We’re not having any bad practices, which I think is really important... It’s going to take some time for us to keep getting better with each other, but first thing’s first is that we like each other. I think that’s really important for us.”

Walker is certainly enjoying himself. This year, part of that enjoyment will stem from letting someone else do some of the heavy lifting for a change.