The cleanup began with a phone call to Richard Hamilton.

Then Pistons President Joe Dumars called Hamilton's agent and talked to Pistons Coach Larry Brown. Dumars felt the need to soothe nerves and ease tensions after a column in a New York paper claimed that Brown did not like Corliss Williamson and Hamilton as players, wanted them shipped out of town, and was not keen on using the No. 2 pick on Darko Milicic in Thursday's draft.

Hamilton was upset and confused about the reports. He is making attempts to become engrained in the community and recently began negotiations on a contract he hopes keeps him in Detroit for many seasons. Dumars claims the New York reports are untrue and wanted to clear the air before fiction turned to anger.

"I mean, how do you respond to something that is not true," Dumars said Tuesday following his predraft news conference at the Pistons practice facility. "And people just run away with a story. We never had that conversation."

What is there to not like about Hamilton? While he is not a great defender, he worked hard to improve his defensive game. He is a solid jump shooter who should average around 20 points a game.