West contenders take it to the limit

Remember the good old days when the West was merely wild?

The conference passed even wilder, broke through berserk and zoomed off the charts within seven days as the Lakers, who already looked great, got Pau Gasol, and the Phoenix Suns, who already were great, got Shaquille O’Neal.

The O’Neal deal didn’t just send off tremors. As far as the NBA was concerned, that was the Big One.

Said Toronto Coach Sam Mitchell from the relative safety of the East:

“It’s getting kind of scary out West, isn’t it?”

Try coaching there. The Raptors, No. 5 in the East at 26-21, would be No. 11 in the West -- except with their 9-9 record against West teams, they probably wouldn’t be 26-21.

The East is day-and-night better, at least at the top with Boston and Detroit looking as good as the best West teams, giving the NBA every chance of a more competitive Finals.

Of course, after San Antonio’s 4-0 walkover against Cleveland last spring, what wouldn’t be more competitive?

Boston’s rebirth not only revives the NBA’s greatest tradition, the Celtics have single-handedly reversed years of West domination, going 15-0 against West teams.

However, the Celtics played most of those games when they were red-hot in their 30-4 start and are in no doubt about what it means:

Nothing.

“We still have a West Coast trip coming up [after] the All-Star break so you know I’m not going to say a word about it,” Coach Doc Rivers said. “The West is better than the East.”

If the West is merely deeper than the East, as the ocean is deeper than a birdbath, it wouldn’t pose such a problem for the NBA, except for one thing:

The West will get a lot better soon.

Whether the Lakers put it together this season or need another move, they’re clearly an emerging giant.

So are the Portland Trail Blazers, who’ll get Greg Oden next season to go with their bright young players who are proving to be wiser than their years.

Then there are the old big three (San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas) and the young comers (Utah, New Orleans.)

That’s seven elite teams without Houston, which won 52 games last season, started the weekend on a 49-win pace and was tied with Golden State for the No. 8 slot.

The real problem is that each conference has its own mind-set.

In the East, teams do anything within reason to get better.

In the West, teams do anything to get better, period.

It wasn’t a surprise that O’Neal and Gasol were available. It also wasn’t a surprise they went where they did as West teams climbed over each other to get them, ignoring the gigantic commitment in additional salary and luxury tax.

The Lakers pooh-pooh the notion Jerry Buss took on an additional $75 million or more. It’s true, it could be less -- if they let Lamar Odom walk after next season and don’t bring anyone into his $14.5-million slot.

The Suns are looking at an additional $40 million, although they insist they’d have paid that much anyway because they would have re-signed Shawn Marion.

That’s not what they said before when they did anything to avoid the tax, giving up two No. 1 picks to get Seattle to take Kurt Thomas, whom they missed badly.

It’s not the same in the East, with the standard of proof so much lower.

Take Chicago owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who sold every seat through the awful post-Michael Jordan years and started this season thinking his young team was a comer in the East.

When Kevin Garnett went to Boston, the Bulls didn’t scour the land for a superstar. Even after Kobe Bryant chose them, they were fearful of melting themselves down for a player who looked high-maintenance and had an opt-out coming.

Even with the Bulls’ illusions about their team shattered, they passed on Gasol although they had the biggest expired contract (P.J. Brown’s) because of the luxury-tax bill.

The East does have GMs who have supportive owners and will rock and roll (Boston’s Danny Ainge, Detroit’s Joe Dumars, New Jersey’s Rod Thorn, Indiana’s Larry Bird, Miami’s Pat Riley and New York’s Isiah Thomas, whose problem is he’s too daring).

On the other hand, there are:

Atlanta -- Managerial paralysis drags on with the owners still suing each other.

Charlotte -- Hiring Larry Brown should have been the no-brainer of all time, but owner Bob Johnson is cheap.

Philadelphia -- Under new management after years of trying to work up the courage to trade Allen Iverson, whom they finally had to demonize to convince themselves it was time.

Milwaukee -- Small market.

Cleveland -- Ready to boogie but has nothing anyone wants except you know who.

Miami -- They used to wheel and deal, but their payroll now touches the sky with, you may have noticed, nothing to show for it. Despite having a billionaire owner, Riley said they didn’t re-sign Jason Kapono because of tax concerns.

So if Commissioner David Stern doesn’t have to seed the playoffs to get a competitive Finals, seeding would have another important benefit: putting the East on the same playing ground.

There’s no reason the teams out here should have all the neuroses.

mark.heisler@latimes.com