Ten days down, forever to go.

More than merely the start of the season, this is also the beginning of the Jazz future, with many swinging pendulums already in place. Will they reclaim a place among the Western Conference elite or teeter on the cusp of missing the playoffs? Will they be committed to Carlos Boozer or get ready to cut and run? And will they have the kind of opening month that erases any uncertainty from the conflicted summer or limp along in a way that generates more speculation? A lot of their tomorrows are playing out at the same time as the present.

That's what made Thursday night in Salt Lake City, a 113-99 victory over the Spurs, so important. The Jazz came in 1-3, with losses to the Nuggets, Rockets and Mavericks in all the real tests and a lone victory against the Clippers. Beating San Antonio was a credibility boost of forward progress.

Welcome to the X-factor of the league in immediate swerving mode, a team of enviable front-court depth and superior play at point guard that can make a credible case for a long playoff run. Yet it's also basically the same roster that finished eighth in the West last season and lost to the Lakers in the first round with all four of the defeats by double digits. The Jazz can go either way. There were injuries down the 2008-09 stretch, an obvious problem that already has some signs of carryover (reserve Kyle Korver and starter C.J. Miles are both out with injuries). Coach Jerry Sloan was also disappointed by a locker room that went selfish, and that isn't automatically in the past. Again, it's close to the same group.

It gets better. Far from the incorrect assumption that Utah is working hard to deal Boozer before he becomes a free agent in summer 2010, there is a good chance the Jazz keep him the entire season if they prove to be contenders, then settle the matter in July or August. Or, a bad first half greatly increases the odds the front office will seek a Boozer trade, and he then becomes a major factor in the title chase in another city.

Salt Lake City is a potential tipping point for the entire league in several ways, all dependent on the Jazz of the opening months. Developments will be tracked because Boozer said a few months ago he didn't see himself in Utah for 2009-10 while imagining a pairing with Dwyane Wade in Miami (and also with Derrick Rose in Chicago). How the standings develop in November, December and January could impact the availability of a power forward who has averaged double-figure rebounds the last three seasons and a 20-10 two of the last three.

"The bottom line is, where is he today?" Sloan said of dealing with the situation. "I don't care what happened last week or two months ago. We sat down and talked, and at the beginning I felt like he was sincere about trying to do the right thing. Only time can tell."

Boozer is at 15.6 points, 10 rebounds in 33.6 minutes along with 41.9 percent shooting the first five games while keeping the starting job over Millsap, who's averaging 9.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in 24 minutes per with 52.8 percent from the field. In an effort to maximize his playing time, Millsap has been getting more minutes than previous seasons at small forward, often teaming with Boozer instead of replacing him.

"I don't worry about that," Boozer said. "That's stuff for you all (in the media) to worry about. We just go out there, bust our ass, have fun. And we're already good friends, so we don't worry about the rest of it. You all write whatever you're going to write, but we're going to continue to be good friends and have fun out there."

It's not just a media thing, it is suggested to Boozer. A lot of teams are going to follow the power forward developments in Utah.

"I don't know," he replied. "I don't think about. I'm sure there is, but I don't worry about that stuff. I'm going to worry about day by day, how we do, how we improve and continue to see how we get better when we're out there together and how we do as a team."

Life on the pendulum of the Jazz.

Life as an X-factor of the league.

Scott Howard-Cooper has covered the NBA since 1988. You can e-mail him here.

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