Wraper will disagree, but I would
1. put a nice bead on all the pads, esp a good fatty on the center pad. Well, what I means is it's better to have too much than too little. Too little and the chip will stick to the board like glue without self-centering. Then you basically have to push the chip to where you think it goes or, better, pull the chip off and start all over.
2. Plenty of flux.
3. pin the chip down with tweezers while shooting the hot air. When it reflows, you will automatically end up pushing the chip against the board, temporarily. Don't squish it too hard, though. Then you can let go.
The excess solder, if any, squeezes out. And it will bead out around the chip, clinging around the sides. If the chip snaps out of alignment to the wrong pads, just nudge it back to place and remove the heat. As long as you have enough flux on the board and you squeezed it a bit against the PCB, there will be no bridges underneath the chip, IME.
Then go around the chip and reflow the sidepads, removing excess solder and bridges, if any, with the iron. If you have to remove some surrounding components first, then that's what ya gotta do. Or get a new tip for your iron that can squeeze in there.
Or you can try solderpaste and hot air. In many cases, I think solder blob and flux is easier and more surefire.