IN THE LANE

THE LONG VIEW: The fact that former Heat forward P.J. Tucker has been fined $75,000 by the NBA for daring to request a trade from the

Los Angeles Clippers takes his current contract almost full circle from its origins. Amid their 2022 free-agency negotiations when they wanted to retain Tucker after the team’s run within one game of the NBA Finals, the Heat’s concern was guaranteeing a third season for when Tucker would be 40 by the 2025 playoffs. Eventually, the Heat relented, only to see the defensive-minded undersized power forward go to the Philadelphia 76ers for slightly more money. Since then, Philadelphia moved off that third season when they dumped Tucker into the trade of James Harden to the Clippers. Now, Tucker, who has not played since Nov. 27, has been granted a leave of absence by the Clippers, who were unable to deal Tucker at the Feb. 8 NBA trading deadline. The sticking point, as it had been for the Heat, is the $11.5 million player option Tucker holds for next season, one he is not budging from ahead of the March 1 buyout deadline for playoff eligibility elsewhere.“I don’t know where it goes from here. I don’t know,”Tucker told The Athletic. Said Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, “We like PJ here and he’ll get an opportunity.” If there is a Tucker buyout, interest from the Heat would appear within reason. But there won’t be a buyout . . . because of Tucker’s insistence of wanting it all with that third season.

WAITING GAME: Ahead of Wednesday night’s loss to the Heat, Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse offered his perspective on the benefits of adding former Heat point guard Kyle Lowry, who will make his debut with his hometown 76er after the All-Star break.“Nobody competes like that guy,” said Nurse, who coached Lowry to the 2019 NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors.“Like I haven’t had a player my entire coaching career that competes like that guy. So that’s the highest compliment I can give him.” Lowry signed for $2.8 million for the balance of the season. He next will enter free agency in the offseason without Bird Rights, having forfeited those by taking his buyout from the Hornets. Lowry left the Heat after being moved to the bench. Nurse made clear that a similar role awaits. “He gives us another ball handler,” Nurse said, “backup point guard, whatever, second point guard, whatever you want to say with that.”

ANOTHER TALE: Among the benefits of former Heat captain and current team executive Udonis Haslem entering the podcast space has been the filling in of certain blanks in the team’s history. The latest came with former Heat guard Jason Williams during his recent guest appearance revealing how Shaquille O’Neal helped get Williams traded to the Heat from the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2005 offseason. “He came to the crib,”Williams said of O’Neal, then a season into his Heat tenure, visiting his home, “and he asked me do I want to play with Miami?” It didn’t take much convincing.“What do you got to do?”Williams said was his reply. “You could tell Pat Riley that he can cut my left nut off if he gets that deal done. Right? You know what I’m saying?”And just like that (as Williams’ story goes), the Heat had their 2006 championship point guard. “So yeah,” Williams continued, “he got Pat Riley on the phone. We chatted a little bit and the next thing you know the next day it happened.”

SIDE HUSTLE: Although his G League time has been limited on his two-way contract, there is a clear reason why Heat forward Cole Swider is a participant on Sunday’s G League All-Star Game in Indianapolis as an appetizer to the NBA All-Star Game. Not only does Swider rank second in the G League in scoring at 24.6 points per game, but the Sioux Falls Skyforce are 8-1 in the last nine games he has been available. Seven of Swider’s last eight G League appearances have been 20-point games, with the other a 19-point outing. As for the Heat? A bit of a different story, averaging 2.5 points in 10 appearances of mostly mop-up duty.

NUMBER

3

Heat players among the NBA’s Top 15 in fourth-quarter minutes played this season: Bam Adebayo (seventh), Duncan Robinson (10th) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (14th). The only other team with three players in that Top 15 is the Atlanta Hawks, with Trae Young (sixth), Dejounte Murray (13th) and Saddiq Bey (15th).