IN THE LANE

FOREIGN INTRIGUE: Milos Teodosic, considered the best international prospect not already in the NBA, apparently could add another layer to the Heat’s approach with their $37 million in salary-cap space. According to the Russian news agency TASS, as reported by the the Heat have joined several other teams in pursuit of the 30-year-old Serbian playmaking guard. The Brooklyn Nets had been considered a front-runner for the versatile wing, with the Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets previously linked to the pursuit of the impending free agent who is completing his contract with CSKA Moscow. In the blog he writes for Eurohoops.net, Teodosic posted last month, “It’s true that I’m seriously thinking about the possibility of the NBA, but nothing has transpired yet, and nothing will until the summer. I’ve said before that, in order for me to go to the USA, a team has to meet both my competitive ambitions — which is the most important thing — and everything that has to do with the financial aspect as well as the aspect of the length of my contract.” WINNER’S CIRCLE: Among the members of the “Lauderdale Boys” who won the Dew NBA 3X last weekend in Miami and advanced to the national three-on-three championships is Ivan Aska. If the name sounds familiar it might be because of his time at Boyd Anderson High School, but it also might be for a his time as a member of the Heat’s 2014 summer-league team, where he played as a teammate of Tyler Johnson, Shabazz Napier, James Ennis and Justin Hamilton, averaging 4.5 points and 2.1 rebounds. The former Murray State Racer has gone on to play in Germany, Greece, Israel and South Korea, as well as with the U.S. Virgin Islands national team. What makes the tournament particularly relevant is Friday’s addition of three-on-three basketball as a medal event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. COULD BE WORSE: New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis took a bit of a backhanded shot at the Marlins during this past week’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, or at least at the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate. In addition to discussing his former pet monkey, Davis got into a discussion with Kimmel about his team’s name. “The Pelicans is the worst name for a team, right?” Kimmel asked. “I mean really, when you put on a Pelican uniform, it can’t fire you up, right?” Davis, in turn, brought up the New Orleans Baby Cakes, who took on that name this season amid their ongoing affiliation with the Marlins. “When that came up,” Davis said, “I figured, Pelicans is fine.” According to the Baby Cakes’ website, the nickname is, “a tribute to the Mardi Gras king cakes where small plastic babies are sought after.” BACK AT IT: Now on a year-by-year NBA existence, Heat captain Udonis Haslem, who turned 37 Friday, said last weekend he is confident that there will be an opportunity for him in free agency, clearly with a hometown preference. “At the end of the day, as long as I have a little bit of ability and the talent to play, it’s very short, this window is very short,” he said. “The last thing I want to do is have regrets — you know, ‘I wish I would have done this or would have done that.’ So my main goal is to play the game of basketball, hopefully for the Miami Heat, but at the end of the day, definitely will be a part of somebody’s team and play basketball.”