The main comparison I draw here is the saudi football (soccer) league whose main draw is the amount of money they're willing to throw at players
For guys like Messi and Ronaldo who are over the hill compared to their younger contemporaries it makes sense that they would take a big payday to play in a weaker league as their careers wind down (Messi in MLS and Ronaldo in the saudi pro league), but younger guys will always want to play with and against the best players even if they have to take slightly less money to do so. Unless some massive shift occurs, those players will still gravitate towards the NBA.
Your example with Luka for example could happen, but it would probably take him being like 38, not 28.
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