The New Orleans Pelicans have a pair of dominant big men in a league that has moved towards multi-dimensional guards and wings.

The Pelicans acquired DeMarcus Cousins last February to pair with Anthony Davis.

“It really has become a guard-oriented league,” Alvin Gentry said. “Look at Washington’s backcourt and Portland’s backcourt. We’re bucking the trend and seeing if we can start a fad of our own by playing big guys and trying to take advantage of mismatches.”

“There’s very few bigs in the league compared to 20 years ago,” Steve Kerr said, referring to the Pelicans as an anomaly. “Who else is going to get two bigs like these guys? They present a challenge because they make us play a different style of defense than what we’ve grown accustomed to.”

The Pelicans acquired Cousins because he was an available talent and not to purposely go against the trends of the NBA.

“It’s really hard to get elite players,” Dell Demps said. “We had the opportunity to get elite players. That’s where it started.”

Cousins and Davis each have a special set of skills.

“They’re not typical bigs,” Demps said. “They’re both really skilled. They can shoot, they can pass, they can handle the ball, they can make plays for other people. Now, the key is to make it all mesh.”