The New Orleans Pelicans have their Anthony Davis plan in place for the rest of the season, and the big man is set to play Wednesday against the Los Angeles Lakers, but under a time restraint:

Anthony Davis missed the last game against the Lakers on Saturday after playing against the Indiana Pacers on Friday, causing many to speculate about the reasons why he made those decisions.

The Lakers were the big suitors for Davis before the trade deadline and will continue to pursue the superstar in the summer. Some also wondered whether the decision was orchestrated by Rich Paul, the agent for Davis and LeBron James. Los Angeles is fighting for a playoff spot, and no Davis theoretically should've helped, but New Orleans pulled off a surprise upset anyway.

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If things go according to plan and Davis plays 20 minutes in Wednesday's game, this will be his third straight game since the All-Star break (fifth straight if you go back before the break) under 25 minutes.

This is a smart move by New Orleans. It keeps the NBA fines away for resting a superstar and keeps the fans that want to see the “best” product somewhat happy. At the same time, it minimizes the risk of injury to Davis and gives their younger players more time on the court.

Nobody's going to pretend like this hasn't been a dreadful breakup between Davis and the Pelicans. That being said, they need to live with each other for the rest of the season.

Finding a way to keep everyone relatively happy hasn't been an easy process for New Orleans. It will only get harder as the year winds down and they want to play Davis even less.

With that in mind, don't be surprised if his minutes decrease over time.