IN THE LANE

APPRECIATION OFFERED: Among the reasons Jae Crowder was able to secure his lucrative free-agent contract with the Phoenix Suns was his 3-point shooting at the end of last season with the Heat.

For that, he said, he remains appreciative to Erik Spoelstra and his staff. Of what he stepped into last season with the Heat, Crowder said, “It was as simple as we had a saying called, ‘Let it fly.’ ” From there, Crowder took flight. “My coaching staff gave me the confidence whatever shot I felt like is a good shot, they trusted me in believing I could take that shot,” he said. “And not every situation I’ve been in has been that way.” Crowder added in his session with Phoenix media, “Coach Spo did a great job and I’m thankful for him in giving me the whole playing field of just, ‘We trust you.’ ”

THE GIANNIS FACTOR: If the Heat’s 2021 offseason goal truly was centered on a free-agent bid for

Giannis Antetokounmpo (and no one from the team has said that was the case), then it could have been a case of misreading the approach of the Milwaukee Bucks forward. He explained to ESPN. “I didn’t want the pressure. Not me, personally; I can deal with pressure,” he said. “I didn’t want the pressure on my teammates and my coaching staff. Like, going out there and losing a game, and people are talking about ‘Oh, he’s leaving. Oh, he’s staying. Oh, they didn’t play well. Oh, he’s out of there.’ That’s adding more pressure to what we’re trying to accomplish here. The goal is to win a championship. So going through a year of pressure is almost like throwing out the year while I’m entering my prime. So I’m not throwing out a year.”

STILL TRYING: Plenty still endure from the 2008 NBA

Draft — Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Eric Gordon, Brook Lopez, Danilo Gallinari, Goran Dragic, among others — and now comes word

that Michael Beasley is trying to get back in. The hard way, with the No. 2 overall pick in that draft by the Heat entering his name in the G League pool. Beasley, who has been out of the NBA since Feb. 7, 2019, when he was traded by the Los Angeles Lakers and then immediately released by the Los Angeles Clippers, appeared poised for an NBA return in the Disney World bubble this summer, before his agreement with the Brooklyn Nets was canceled once he tested positive for COVID-19. For all the spots Beasley has landed, including three stints with the Heat and three in China, he has yet to spend time in the developmental league. The question now is whether the 31-year-old forward who has been training in Miami, will be selected to participate in the G League short-season bubble at Disney World in February. SPEAKING OF: Speaking of former Heat prospects, Briante Weber has surfaced in France’s top league for the second consecutive year, with the defensively gifted guard recently coming to an agreement with BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque, where he will be a teammates of former Heat training-camp hopeful

Erik McCree. Weber spent the offseason playing for the Hamilton Honey Badgers in the short-season quarantine bubble of the Canadian Elite Basketball League. Weber last played in the NBA in 2018 with the Memphis Grizzlies. Weber averaged 12.2 points and 4.6 assists last season in France.

NUMBER

14. Days between fourth-quarter minutes for the Heat’s Jimmy Butler between the Dec. 23 seasonopening loss in Orlando and Wednesday’s home loss to the Celtics. He played 8:33 in the fourth quarter in Orlando and then 8:03 in the fourth quarter against the Celtics, otherwise held out of final periods either by injury (ankle) or lopsided scores.