In the lane

STILL AT IT: With Adam Simon staying on as the Heat’s vice president of basketball operations, bypassing overtures from the Chicago Bulls, this is as good as time as any to reflect on Simon’s roots as the Heat’s director of international scouting. “One of the most remote places I’ve ever had been to was Kazan, Russia,” Simon, now 46, reflected two years ago to the Sun Sentinel. “I got on this plane — the scene on this plane was people were buying beers from the flight attendant before the plane even took off. People are smoking on the plane. It was a free-for-all. We land in the middle of the night, in this dark field. And there’s really no terminal. It almost looked like it was a barn. No marked taxicab. Middle-of-the-night flight. I was like, ‘Anything can happen to me here right now.’ Luckily, my senses took over and I found a guy, and I showed him my hotel on my itinerary. He took me there. But a little nervous there for a second, like, ‘What is going on here? Where am I?’ ” As with many Simon stories, it all managed to work out. “It actually was a good trip,” he said. “I found a player there.” OK, one more, “Landing once in a small city in Ukraine, there’s like dogs on the runway. They pick you up in this tractor-looking device. I’m like, ‘Holy cow, now this is a remote place.’ ’’

CONTRASTING VIEW: A goal of the Bulls in their executive search reportedly had been establishing something closer to the Heat’s culture. That search came the same week that former Detroit Pistons guard Isiah Thomas questioned such an approach by former Heat coach Stan Van Gundy during Van Gundy’s tenure as Pistons coach and lead executive from 2014 to ‘18. “When Stan Van Gundy took over the Pistons,” Thomas told the Detroit News, “the one thing he said he wanted to do, which a lot of us disagreed with, is change the culture. Then the new regime comes in and where are you in terms of culture? Culture is a big word. It’s one we throw around in sports, but when you look it up and define it, it’s different than what people think. When you talk about changing or establishing a culture, those are pretty big words.” Interestingly, Thomas and Van Gundy are now co-workers at Turner Sports, both having frequently appeared on NBA TV.

A BIG FAN: Whether the Heat make a move for Oregon point guard Payton Pritchard in the NBA draft, they already have a big fan. The winner of this season’s

Bob Cousy award, as the nation’s top point guard, explained to NBCSports Northwest. “I always rooted for the Blazers,” the Portland-area native and prep product said, “but my team was actually the Miami Heat with [ Dwyane Wade]. I was always a D-Wade fan from the beginning, even when like [ Brian] Shaw and all them were there, before LeBron [ James] came.” Former NBA forward Channing Frye, who hosted the discussion with Pritchard, noted the Heat could be a fit, with

Goran Dragic an impending free agent.

“I could name three teams off the top of my head I think you’d be good at,” Frye said. “I think you’d be great here in Portland. Right? Backup point guard. I think you would be really good in Phoenix. Obviously, depending on what happens in Miami, those kind of places.” Pritchard is expected go to later than the Heat’s current No. 23 pick, with the Heat lacking a second-round pick in this year’s draft.

STILL WAITING: If there is to be a Ray Allen reunion with his 2008 championship Boston Celtics teammates, a relationship fractured by Allen’s 2012 free-agency signing with the Heat, it won’t necessarily come at Kevin Garnett’s Hall of Fame induction this summer. At least not with Garnett forcing the issue. “That’s not important,” Garnett told The Boston Globe. “I wouldn’t dare ask those guys to do that. I’m not a guy to do that. If someone wants to do something on their own, fine. That ’08 team, I have connections with everybody on that team. We will forever be brothers. Nothing more, nothing less.” But, he added, “I don’t want any games. If it’s real, it’s real; if it’s not, it’s not. People who want to show their appreciation for whatever it is, that’s cool. I would never put that on any of those guys. That team, those are bros for life. That includes Ray.” Worth noting: When Allen was inducted in 2018, neither Garnett nor Paul Pierce attended.