IN THE LANE

WITHER WHITESIDE?: There appear to be dueling messages from the Sacramento Kings when it comes to a potential role for former Heat center Hassan Whiteside, who signed with the Kings for the NBA minimum. Coach Luke Walton entered camp stressing more “five-out” sets, which would mean no big man in the paint on offense. “I think there are going to be some tweaks that’s going to allow different ballhandlers to handle,” forward Harrison Barnes told The Athletic. “Not necessarily as much of a post presence, potentially five-out and things like that to really just kind of open up the floor and let guys create.” And yet, when Whiteside was added, new general manager Monte McNair said, “What we really want is the roster versatility to be able to match up with any team or any situation, and somebody like Hassan gives us not just size but shot blocking, finishing on offense, rebounding on both ends, and I think he’ll be a good complement to the rest of the guys we have on the roster.”

MORE HASSAN: Of being back with the team that drafted him in the second round out of Marshall in 2 0 1 0, Whiteside said of his uneven initial tour with the Kings, “I always wanted to come back and rewrite that.” Asked about the notion of being a bad teammate, now on his third team in as many seasons, he said, “I think I’m a really great teammate. I don’t know where that’s coming from. I look around. I don’t know where that’s coming from.”

MORE THAN MONEY: Yes, the divorce between Jae Crowder and the Heat was inevitable once the Heat declined to go more than one season with guaranteed money in free agency. But upon his arrival to the Phoenix Suns, Crowder said the Dallas Mavericks actually offered more than the $3 0 million over three years he received from the Suns. “I just envisioned a bigger role for myself on this team,” Crowder told Arizona Sports 9 8 .7 FM. “When I sat back and I thought about it, obviously, Dallas is a place where they drafted me. I will always have love for Dallas,” said Crowder, who entered the NBA in 2 0 1 2 as a secondround pick with Dallas. “Whenever I sat back and took both phone calls and I hung up both phone calls, I envisioned myself here in Phoenix over Dallas. ”To Crowder, it was another challenge, similar to helping push the Heat to last season’s NBA Finals. “You look at a team that has not been to the playoffs in 1 1 years, I want to be a part of the reason why we got back onto the winning side,” he said.

AS FOR J-RICH: As it is, the Mavericks already had been boosted by the addition of former Heat swingman Josh Richardson in a pre-draft trade with the Philadelphia 7 6 ers. Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle is hailing Richardson as a complement to Luka Doncic. “We’ve been looking for a guy that can guard point guards and be able to score off the ball, or be able to take the ball and let Luka work off the ball,” Carlisle said. “And I think he gives us that kind of flexibility.” Richardson said he trained with Doncic in Santa Barbara, Calif., before Doncic went No. 3 in the 2 0 1 8 draft. “We met because he came out there to train for a summer,” the 2 0 1 5 Heat second-round pick told the Mavericks’ website. “The first time we played, I came back to Miami and told some of my best friends, ‘I just met this kid and he’s going to be the first pick in the draft.’ I still think he should have been, but he lived up to my expectations so far and more. We’ve been cool since.”

BUBBLE BONUS: Former Heat guard Tyler Johnson said returning to the Brooklyn Nets after his solid showing at the NBA’s Disney bubble was a no-brainer, considering it meant the opportunity to play with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. “It’s very rare to be in a situation where you have a team that wants you, that’s going to be putting themselves in a position to compete for a championship, ”Johnson said. “That’s what I wanted to be a part of. How that evolves for me moving forward, we’ll see, but being around great players raises your level. That’s what I wanted to be around.”

FOR THE AGES: Jimmy Butler’s performance with the Heat after turning 3 0 at the start of last season has the Charlotte Hornets confident that they can realize something tangible this season from freeagent pickup Gordon Hayward, who turned 3 0 on March 2 3 .“I think Jimmy had a pretty good year,” Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak said. “I think the best years for an NBA player, when their mind catches up to their body, are between the ages of 2 8 -3 2 . So I think [Hayward] still has at least two, maybe three, solid years where he can play at a high level. ”The Hornets, of course, paid Hayward $1 2 0 million over four seasons.

NUMBER

99 Number former Heat forward Jae Crowder now will wear for a sixth consecutive team (Celtics, Cavaliers, Jazz, Grizzlies, Heat, Suns) after wearing 9 with the Mavericks as a rookie. He will be the first Phoenix player to wear the number.