CHANGE MARKS THE WEST.

Byline: Steve Dilbeck Staff Writer

Most of the offseason attention has gone Portland's way, but the Blazers were hardly the only team in the Western Conference going big in the makeover department.

``Everybody in the West has a nice little team,'' Sonics guard Gary Payton said. ``It just depends on who comes to play that night. Everybody is going to be competitive.''

A look at the other key moves in the West:

--San Antonio: The Spurs added guard Derek Anderson, who toiled with the Clippers last year and averaged 16.9 points and 3.4 assists per game. He's younger, quicker and more athletic than the departed Mario Elie.

They also added forward Danny Ferry (the almost-ex Clipper), but the biggest improvement for the Spurs won't come from anyone new but from having Tim Duncan and Sean Elliott healthy.

``They were unlucky last year at the end of the season, when Tim Duncan got hurt,'' Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy said. ``They were the defending champions. When that group is playing right, they can win it all.''

--Seattle: The team that's never had a true center finally nabbed one, even if it was creaky Patrick Ewing.

The Sonics will also start athletic rookie Desmond Mason at shooting guard and have moved 6-10 Rashard Lewis to small forward, but the key will be how the worn-down Ewing holds up.

``I saw last year what he could do,'' Payton said. ``You think about all the injuries and have to say he's not like he used to be five, six years ago. But if we can play him 25 to 28 minutes with good production, I think we'll be a good team.''

--Utah: The Jazz have never been into this change thing, but they did add forwards Donyell Marshall, Danny Manning and guard John Starks.

Starks will take over for the retired Jeff Hornacek, but Marshall's 10 rebounds per game (with the Warriors) might prove the biggest addition.