This story appears in the Feb. 11, 2019, issue of Sports Illustrated. For more great storytelling and in-depth analysis, subscribe to the magazine—and get up to 94% off the cover price. Click here for more.
Before you criticize Anthony Davis for his strategically timed trade demand, before you bemoan the eventual defection of another All-NBA player from a small-market team, understand: New Orleans brought a lot of this on itself. Years of doling out cap-crippling contracts (Ryan Anderson, Omer Asik, Solomon Hill) and dealing away draft picks put the Pelicans in the position they are in today—well under .