Last spring, the Oklahoma City Thunder won 57 regular-season games, swept the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs and took two games off the Dallas Mavericks before bowing out in the second round.

The Thunder’s most-used starting lineup featured 6-foot-5 Jalen Williams at power forward and wiry 7-footer Chet Holmgren at center. Despite that success, the Thunder still chose to sign free agent center Isaiah Hartenstein to a three-year, $87 million deal in the summer.

While much of their competition has decided to get bigger, the Pelicans are going to lean into lineups that don’t include a traditional center this season.

“The fact of the matter is we are going to have a ton of games where we don’t have a traditional center on the floor,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said at media day last month. “That’s going to happen. We have to get accustomed to playing that way for a good bulk of the game.”

Last season, Zion Williamson played roughly 14% of his minutes at center, according to Cleaning the Glass. The Pelicans outscored their opponents by 10 points per 100 possessions during those stretches. Surrounding Williamson with guards and wings who can shoot gives him space to drive to the rim. But playing this way is asking a lot of him as a rebounder and interior defender.

“You have to work with what you got,” Williamson said. “If we don’t have those bigs you’re talking about, we have to work with what we got.”

Jonas Valanciunas started 235 games for the Pelicans at center in his three years with the team. The Lithuanian signed with the Washington Wizards on the opening night of free agency.

That created a hole. The Pelicans wanted to plug it by trading for Jarrett Allen, but the Cleveland Cavaliers held onto the rim-protecting big man and tacked three years onto his contract.

In June, the Pelicans drafted Yves Missi with the 21st pick. In July, they signed Daniel Theis to a one-year deal in free agency and upgraded second-round draft-and-stash Karlo Matkovic to a standard roster spot.

Theis is the Pelicans’ only true center on a standard deal who has NBA experience. The 32-year-old played for five different NBA teams in his first seven years in the league. He’s a low-usage big content to set screens and rebound, and he can hit the occasional 3.

“I feel like he doesn’t necessarily want the ball a lot, but he knows how to play the game the right way,” forward Herb Jones said of Theis. “Very good communicator. We’ve been talking a bunch about things on the defensive end.

“J.V. had more of a post presence. My boy D.T., he doesn’t post up a bunch, which opens up the floor a lot. I think he understands the concepts coach is trying to implement.”

Theis was with the Los Angeles Clippers last season. He played in 59 games, almost all as a backup. He started at center for Germany in the Olympics and played well. The Germans fell to France in the third-place game, and Theis arrived in New Orleans about a week before training camp started.

“I wanted to be a part of a team where I got the opportunity to play and not just sit on the bench and say, ‘Yeah, I’m here,’ ” Theis said. “I want to be out there and help the team win and get to the playoffs.”

The Southwest Division is stocked with talented big men. The San Antonio Spurs have 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama, who led the NBA in shot blocking as a rookie. The Dallas Mavericks are coming off an NBA Finals appearance and employ Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington in their front court. In June, the Memphis Grizzlies drafted Zach Edey — the Purdue giant — with their first-round pick with the idea of pairing him next to Jaren Jackson. The Houston Rockets will start Alperen Sengun, who got All-Star buzz last season.

The Pelicans must face all of those teams four times this season.

“I think we can be extremely good,” Pelicans general manager Bryson Graham said. “The thing is when you say small, I don’t necessarily see it with the amount of length we have on the perimeter. Trey (Murphy) will tell you he’s 6-foot-10. Herb is 6-foot-8. B.I. (Brandon Ingram) is 6-foot-9. I don’t know if you’ve seen Dejounte’s arms, but they go down to his ankles. There is a ton of length and athleticism.”

When fully healthy, the Pelicans will be able to put a lineup on the floor where every player is between 6-5 and 6-8. Dejounte Murray, whom the Pelicans traded for in June, is 6-5 with a 6-10 wingspan. He gives the team great size at the lead guard spot. The Pelicans can put Jones, Murphy, Ingram and Williamson next to him.

“I get it,” Graham said. “You don’t have a traditional big. Neither did Golden State. Coach Green was there when they would go small with Draymond.”

To Graham’s point, the Golden State Warriors have had enormous success shifting power forward Draymond Green “up” a position to center over the past decade. They have made six Finals appearances and won four championships.

Last season, Green started a bulk of games for the Warriors at center. But during training camp this week, coach Steve Kerr said he is wary of using the 6-6 Green too much at the position.

“There’s part of me that’s like, ‘Eighty-two games of Draymond playing center?’ ” Kerr said. “There are teams trying to play bigger now. I don’t love the idea of Draymond being the starting five and playing heavy minutes there game after game.”