Assessing the new frontier in West

So much for the Old West.

If the Lakers have yet to prove anything, neither has anyone else in the New West, which isn’t the same as the Old West.

As the Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant Era gave way to the Spurs Era -- which may or may not be over -- there’s definitely a New West waiting to be born.

From 1999 to 2003, the Lakers won three titles and the Spurs two. With the Sacramento Kings, they formed a three-team elite class that made chumps of respectable teams such as Minnesota, which was treated like a failure in the Twin Cities after losing in the first round of every playoffs from 1997 to 2003.

O’Neal’s departure from the Lakers heralded the Spurs Era from 2005 to 2007, when San Antonio won two more titles.

There was still a three-team aristocracy. It was the Spurs, the Phoenix Suns with Steve Nash and Dallas with Coach Avery Johnson honing a sharper-edged version of Don Nelson’s free-scoring Mavericks.

A respectable team such as the Lakers still had no chance to get out of the West, which is what made Kobe Bryant so crazy, not to mention determined to go to the East.

No one saw the end of the era approaching, but then came Andrew Bynum, the Pau Gasol trade, the O’Neal trade and the Jason Kidd trade.

In the New West, only the Spurs are what they were and the competition is even wilder, with No. 9 Denver starting the weekend on a 49-win pace.

“I mean, Kobe doesn’t have surgery,” Dallas owner Mark Cuban said last week. “That’s all you need to know.

“There’s so little breathing room that the guy won’t even get surgery when the team recommends he have surgery. What else do you need to know?”

Around here we chart the Lakers’ progress daily -- They’re great! No, I say they’re even better! NO, THEY’RE THE BEST EVER! -- so let’s look at everyone else.

San Antonio -- The oldest Western power, the Spurs are nonetheless aging the most gracefully for one reason:

They know what they’re doing.

Coach Gregg Popovich, who with Tim Duncan are their constants, was recently asked what makes his system so successful.

“I don’t know anything else,” he said. “It’s the only system I know.”

There’s their system in a nutshell: no ego, or none you can see. They just keep on keeping on.

Popovich gave up ground this season while making Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker rest minor injuries and wasn’t panicked into a big move by the Gasol trade.

Nevertheless, Parker is the only one in the rotation under 30, so if this isn’t their Last Hurrah, it’s their Last Best Hurrah.

Phoenix -- Here’s the early verdict on the O’Neal trade:

Disaster.

It’s not their 3-6 record, because there’s time to work things out, but the fact that, as Steve Nash said, “We’ve changed everything we’re doing.”

The question was how O’Neal and Nash would run the Suns’ bread-and-butter pick-and-roll.

They don’t run it much at all, with Shaq mostly in the low post, a 180-degree change from their spread offense.

In other words, they’re not the Suns anymore. They just went from a system no one could guard, which they were geniuses at running, to some generic team.

Coach Mike D’Antoni swears he was onboard, but insiders say his feelings were mixed, to say the least.

The real story may have been new owner Robert Sarver’s desire to put his own stamp on the team Jerry and Bryan Colangelo built.

Unless things change dramatically, that stamp will say, OOPS!

Dallas -- Disaster, Texas-style.

What can a point guard who needs teammates to move do for a good team that, instead, creates mismatches and runs isolations?

Not much so far, which is why the Mavericks have gone 5-5 with Kidd.

In New Jersey, Kidd ran the Princeton offense with its screens and back cuts to get teammates open.

Unfortunately, the Suns stole the Mavericks’ O’Neal deal.

Cuban was the first to ask Miami about Shaq, but Sarver not only offered a star -- Shawn Marion -- he pulled the trigger before Cuban could get back in it.

Cuban plainly didn’t want to trade for Kidd. Nor does Johnson look wild about it, as suggested by the end of a loss to San Antonio when he took Kidd off the court, saying he wanted a better shooter.

As bad a fit as O’Neal is in Phoenix, that’s how well he’d have fit in Dallas, where he’d have been a huge upgrade on Erick Dampier in a conventional system.

Utah -- They’re good enough, just not grown up enough with all the young players (Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Miles) and non-defenders (Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur) in the mix.

They’re death at home (28-3) but dead (14-19) everywhere else. With a victory over the Suns in Phoenix on Friday, their time may be coming.

New Orleans -- No team as small and as thin as the Hornets, whose franchise player, Chris Paul, is 23, can keep this up, can they?

Of course, they have so far.

Houston -- I see it. I just don’t believe it.

Portland -- Warming up for elite status next season, even with Greg Oden a rookie and Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge in their third seasons. They’re that good.

Golden State -- Could be Nelson’s swan song, so watch out.

Denver -- With an $83-million payroll triggering $15 million in luxury tax, it’ll be somebody’s swan song.

Clippers -- May field a team next season, now that Donald T. Sterling is back to talking to Coach Mike Dunleavy!

Sacramento, Seattle, Minnesota -- Rebuilding.

Memphis -- Flat line.

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mark.heisler@latimes.com