INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- At various points during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers, Larry Nance Jr. found himself playing out of position at center -- a mix of necessity and the league-wide shift into a popular small-ball style.

Listed at 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds on the team’s official website, Nance said some will chuckle about those center days when his actual height gets revealed soon, as the NBA has cracked down and will be verifying accurate player measurements without shoes.

The good news for Nance: He shouldn’t have to worry about that anymore. Head coach John Beilein views him as a 4. The two talked about that in the off-season. Nance’s days of banging with 7-foot centers are over. And he’s thrilled about that.

“I don’t play anymore 5 really. Thank goodness,” Nance said with a huge smile. “I’ve been doing a whole lot of 4. A little bit in the post, a whole lot on the wing. The biggest difference between a 4 and 5 in this offense is kind of the freedom it gives you. I think with my playmaking ability that I kind of found last year I think that best suits me.”

In Beilein’s system the 4 is often asked to be an offensive hub, initiating from the top of the key or the post. Sometimes it means playing on the perimeter, spacing the floor and pulling defenders away from the rim, allowing Cleveland’s alluring backcourt tandem of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton to attack the paint.

In preparation for this new opportunity, Nance estimates taking more than 20,000 3-pointers. One member of the organization said his form has looked more “fluid” in the first few days of camp.

“I shot till I was blue in the face,” Nance said. “A whole lot of jump shooting in the off-season.”

The Cavs believe Nance will get more open looks and want him to feel comfortable taking them without hesitation. They actually wanted him to shoot more from the outside than he did a year ago, when he made a career-high 33 triples on 98 attempts. They think the constant work this summer will lead to those numbers rising.

Nance said he hasn’t written down a specific goal when it comes to 3-pointers. He may before the season starts. As of now, he’s not targeting a specific percentage, but he would ideally like to at least double his made 3s from a year ago.

While a big part of this long-range emphasis is about where this game is going, a belief that bigs need to extend their game out to the arc, Nance’s reasoning goes beyond the obvious.

“The whole idea for me behind shooting 3s is, obviously I want to make them and I want to become very efficient and very good at it, but for me it’s getting into the lane. Teams desperately don’t want me off the dribble in the lane,” Nance told cleveland.com. “For me, if I can shoot well enough to have them close out to me then my first step is too fast for these big guys to stay in front. Once I get downhill that’s when playmaking ensues. That’s the whole thought process behind it.”

That thinking led to Nance working on a variety of ball-handling drills as well. Given opportunities to handle and experimenting with playmaking responsibilities for the first time last season, Nance averaged a career-best 3.2 assists, the first time he cracked the 2.0 mark in four seasons. He was second on the team in assists, trailing just backup point guard Matthew Dellavedova.

This role should allow Nance to grab rebounds and push immediately, hunting easy looks for the offense early in the shot clock as opposed to constantly having to execute against a set defense.

After playing at the league’s second-slowest pace in 2018-19, the Cavs want to pick that up. Playing a two-guard front should help. Having athletes should as well. Kevin Love is always dangerous with his deep outlet passes. But if Nance can board and go, with a tighter and more reliable handle, that would give the Cavs a huge boost.

“I did a whole lot of dribbling for someone who couldn’t dribble last year,” Nance said. “Now that I can handle the ball way better I feel comfortable getting places on the court and not even think about it.”

All of this sounds good in theory. Nance -- and the Cavs -- will have a chance to put it into practice for the first time on Monday night in the preseason opener.

Beilein’s staff charts every practice. They also chart every shooting drill, keeping track of numbers. At this point, it seems Beilein is at least open to an unshackled Nance.

“Are they shooting at a percentage that merits them to shooting in game? I don’t think you can go into, especially in a renaissance like we’re going through right now, and say you’re history says you ain’t shooting 3s. Because that’s not fair to him,” Beilein said. “Maybe nobody’s ever taught him how to shoot a 3. And over time, what’s the worst that comes out to? He’s better from 15 feet? That would be really good. So let’s say yes, until we say alright, you’re not ready, and use that big word, yet. And always keep that glimmer of hope for the big guys.”

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