INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- Iman Shumpert has come to training camp with a fresh haircut. And a fresh perspective.

After months of stewing over the NBA Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors, his dwindling minutes and countless off-season trade rumors, Shumpert was able to move forward after a sit-down conversation with head coach Tyronn Lue.

"I talked to him right before we were about to start camp in the summertime," Lue said Tuesday afternoon. "I let guys have their space. Three straight Finals and I know they have family and they have kids. We talk closer to training camp before we get to Santa Barbara.

"Cut his hair, which I like. Nice, new look. But he's in a good place and we had a good talk and good conversation."

Shumpert's signature flat top is gone, replaced with a tighter look -- brush length all the way around.

"My wife makes me try and do my daughter's hair now and it's like, if she gotta do her hair and I gotta do my daughter's hair, and then I gotta do my hair, I don't got time for that," Shumpert said with a smile.

Also gone: Any ill will toward Lue and the organization heading into what could possibly be his final year with the Cavaliers. Shumpert's contract includes an $11 million option for the 2018-19 season.

Normally players are able to air their grievances, keep the frustration from building, during an end-of-season exit interview. But Lue doesn't have those.

"With all the rumors that came out and nobody on the organization side coming out to say, like, 'Iman didn't say that.' I let him know," Shumpert said. "I felt like I was in the dark about everything and I was like I don't really know. All I can think about is where am I going to be next season? That was my concern."

Shumpert spent all off-season wondering, waiting until late summer to finally have that one-on-one conversation with Lue.

"It was just that time for me to have a grown-up conversation with him and just let him know, 'can we just sort of knock down the coach-player thing right now and can I just sort of talk to you personally about how I feel about how everything finished up last year?'" Shumpert said. "He gave me the chance to be honest and he let me know that if at any time during the year I just want to come in the office and sit down with him and kick everybody out. He said if I just want to yell and be crazy, I can do that, so that definitely made me feel a lot better."

The Cavs came close to trading Shumpert to the Houston Rockets in early July. But the Rockets signed hard-nosed defender P.J. Tucker. The Cavs continued to look for a trade partner, to no avail, keeping Shumpert in Cleveland for now.

So when Shumpert and Lue sat down, the first thing they had to discuss was Shumpert's role. After playing 25.5 minutes per game in the regular season, shooting a career-best 41 percent from the field and improving his 3-point range -- canning 36 percent of his triple tries -- Shumpert saw signs of his role diminishing.

A postseason that began with a DNP ended with another lousy performance on the Finals stage, making four total field goals in the five-game series while logging just four minutes during Game 5.

"My concern is about playoff time and if I feel like I need to work on something to get more time on the floor," Shumpert said. "I felt like during the Finals, I wanted to play more. I felt like the game I played more -- I believe Game 2 -- I felt like I was effective and I wanted to be more a part of the game. I felt like I could change the game in different ways. I may not change it the way another guy did but I felt like the way we did when I was in the game, it helped us."

After numerous free agency additions, Shumpert once again appears caught in a numbers game. But early in training camp, he's been a staple of the new-look second unit, playing alongside Dwyane Wade, Kyle Korver, Jeff Green and Tristan Thompson.

Lue also said Shumpert will get more opportunities to run pick-and-roll this season. His primary role will be the same as it's always been: Defense. Even with an glut of wings, that should allow him to keep a spot in the rotation.

"I know throughout the year, minutes played and the age of the guards we have, I'm one of the younger guys. I know there's going to be minutes and rotations," Shumpert said. "I'm ready to go to war. I don't mind the competition. I like war. So it's like if I feel like I could be part of the war and I can spill some blood, I'm all for it.

"But if I feel like they want to go in a different direction, and they feel like they want to do some other stuff, I want them to be honest with me. It helped me a lot with just being able to come in here and have a positive energy and a positive influence on the team."

The sting of the Finals flop remains. It's pushing the Cavs -- and Shumpert -- every day.

Most players work on elements of their game during the summer. Shumpert's no exception. Instead of staying in Atlanta to work out, Shumpert traveled across the country, playing pick-up ball with some of the league's brightest stars, wanting to challenge himself against the best. He went to L.A., New York and Miami. He was photographed playing against Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul, among others.

But the biggest change came on the mental side, entering camp with a free mind.

"With me, as a player, I try and at times just block out what I got going on personally or what I feel like I bring to the table, it's because I'm thinking about the bigger picture of us being a team and you've gotta try to buy into a role and do all the other things on the court that help the team win," he said. "I'm just sort of done with the whole letting my emotions or letting my, 'Oh, I don't want anybody to think I'm shooting too much' (get in the way of play).

"I'm going to be more assertive with myself on the offensive end because I felt like a lot of times during the Finals, we needed another guy to make plays and I felt like I could do it but because during the year at times I would shy away from it for the concerns of the team, nobody trusted me with the ball. And I don't like that feeling at all.

"I don't like the media and everybody writing stuff like, 'He's a defensive (player).' I don't like the s---. I don't like it because I know what I can do with the ball and I know what's going on. It's like I try and defer and make sure everybody is happy and make sure we got a good thing going, but if we're going to sit here and say we need playmakers, then I'm going to be aggressive."

Losing can often be a learning experience. In Oakland last June, Shumpert sat slumped in a chair by his locker, away from all of his teammates. He was one of the last players to get dressed. It's that series that has again led to a new attitude.

"Nobody wants to play a whole season and feel like I felt like I was shooting the ball the best I've shot it in my career, being more and more aggressive to the basket and finishing and then get to the Finals and feel like I'm just sort of standing and I don't really know what's going on and then I get it and I'm uncomfortable," he said. "That's the worst feeling in the world, to feel like you're out of the flow, out of the bounce and then you're not playing. And then you lose and you're like, you regret it.

"So it's like I'd rather go down swinging with everything out of the arsenal."