FanHouse Kevin OConnor

DENVER -- The Matt Harpring watch has been extended. But Utah officials aren't ready to give up on him.

In late September, just before the start of training camp, the team announced the status of the injured forward would be re-evaluated in six weeks. Now, Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor says that, with Harpring not available any time soon, the plan is for medical officials to evaluate him and make a decision around mid-December.

"If not by mid-December, it would difficult for him to get back into any kind of shape for the season,'' O'Connor said Wednesday night in an interview with FanHouse before Utah's game at Denver.

A report from the Palace of Auburn Hills, where the Pistons faced the Utah Jazz on Dec. 20.

Earlier this week, Carlos Boozer confirmed what most of us assumed all along: he planned on opting out of the final year of his contract this summer in hopes of signing a long-term deal.

It's simple math: a six-year deal is better than a one-year deal, right? Gilbert Arenas made the same announcement last season and created zero outrage. The reaction from Utah's front office and ownership, though, was surprisingly indignant. GM Kevin O'Connor called the revelation "peculiar," and owner Larry Miller went so far as to say, "It's one of the top 10 stupidest things I've heard an NBA player do in 20 years."

Unexpectedly stuck with a public relations nightmare on his hands, Boozer was in full cleanup mode while talking to reporters before Friday's game.

"I called and I talked to everybody in the [front] office and I told them that obviously I made a mistake and I apologize," Boozer said. "For me, I felt like I did the wrong thing by speaking about it, but it's over, it's done with.

"Obviously I let them know that I want to be in a Jazz uniform, they know that -- it's the same thing I told you guys yesterday, the same thing you guys have been hearing all along."