NBA Notebook: Dumars fires Curry; Boozer staying in Utah

■ Pistons: Detroit fired Michael Curry as coach yesterday as the team started rebuilding from an unpopular trade, a sub-.500 record and an embarrassing first-round exit from the playoffs that ended its six-year streak of making it to the conference finals.

The Pistons went 39-43 and were swept in the postseason in four lopsided losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Joe Dumars, the team's president for basketball operations, said after that series that Curry would return, but changed his mind.

"This was a difficult decision to make," Dumars said in a statement. "I want to thank Michael for his hard work and dedication to the organization. However, at this time, I have decided to make a change."

Pistons spokesman Kevin Grigg said that the timetable for naming a new coach was up in the air.

"Obviously with the free-agency period starting (today), we don't know quite the speed of it," Grigg said.

The Pistons began the season with big hopes but couldn't recover from the loss of All-Star point guard Chauncey Billups in a November trade to Denver for Allen Iverson -- a move intended to feature Iverson's creativity and create time for emerging guard Rodney Stuckey.

Instead, the Pistons fell apart. They won just three games in February and three in April, plummeting to the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoff seeding and a no-win matchup with LeBron James and the Cavs.

■ Jazz: Carlos Boozer is staying in Utah.

Boozer told the Jazz yesterday that he would return to the team instead of opting out of the final year of his contract and becoming a free agent.

He is scheduled to make $12.7 million next season, his sixth with the Jazz.

Yesterday was the deadline for players to exercise contract options. The Jazz was still waiting for a decision from center Mehmet Okur, who also has one year remaining on his contract.

■ Warriors: Forward Corey Maggette of Golden State has undergone minor surgery on his right wrist.

Maggette had the surgery Monday in Los Angeles to relieve pain that bothered Maggette intermittently during his first season with Golden State. Maggette, a 10-year pro, hobbled through 51 games last season with several injuries, including a sprained right hand, a sore back, a torn hamstring and post-concussion syndrome.

Maggette, who averaged 18.6 points and 5.5 rebounds last season while mostly playing as a reserve, will be able to resume basketball activities in three weeks.

■ Spurs: Veteran guard Michael Finley has told San Antonio he plans to return for another season.

Finley, 36, held the option on his contract for the 2009-10 season, which will be his fifth in San Antonio. The team announced Finley's decision yesterday.

Finley finished his 14th season with averages of 9.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in 81 games. He shot a career-best 41 percent from 3-point range. Among active players, Finley is fourth in games with 1,057 and fifth in 3-pointers with 1,422. He has career averages of 16.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3 assists.

■ Pacers: Indiana made a qualifying offer to point guard Jarrett Jack, making him a restricted free agent.

Jack averaged a career-high 13.1 points per game last season while sharing the starting job with T.J. Ford. Team president Larry Bird said at the end of the season that he wanted to make the offer to Jack, but as the draft approached Bird said that the right point guard could make Jack expendable.

The Pacers drafted Connecticut guard A.J. Price last week.

■ Clippers: The team extended a qualifying offer to forward Steve Novak yesterday, making him a restricted free agent.

Los Angeles also announced yesterday that guard Ricky Davis has exercised his contract option for the 2009-10 season and forward Brian Skinner has decided not to exercise his option for the 2009-10 season, which makes him an unrestricted free agent.

The Clippers also decided not to exercise their team option on guard Alex Acker.

Novak averaged 6.9 points and shot 42 percent from 3-point range in 71 games last season, his third in the NBA.

■ Thunder: Damien Wilkins will be back with Oklahoma City for another season.

Wilkins' agent, Mark Bartelstein, said in an e-mail yesterday that Wilkins, a guard, wouldn't terminate the player option on his contract.

Wilkins averaged a career-low 5.3 points last season as he fell out of the rotation and played in only half of Oklahoma City's 82 games. Before then, he had been a regular in the lineup during the franchise's days in Seattle. He played in every game for the SuperSonics during a two-year span and averaged 9.2 points in 76 games in the team's final season in Seattle.

Wilkins indicated after the season that he planned to return.