The wrong parties were shaking hands Tuesday, but Pistons draft pick Darko Milicic apparently has reached an agreement allowing him to leave his European team.

Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations, said in Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro, that Milicic would pay six annual installments in a buyout deal so that he could join the NBA. Terms of the buyout weren't revealed.

Dumars was photographed at a news conference shaking hands with Marko Ivanovic, manager of the European team Hemofarm Vrsac. But a Pistons spokesman and Milicic's agents emphasized that the deal was between Milicic and Hemofarm, not the Pistons.

The next step will be for Milicic to shake hands with Ivanovic and sign the agreement. Milicic, the No. 2 pick in the June draft, had five years left on his contract with Hemofarm. The buyout is thought to be less than half of the $10 million the European club was seeking. Milicic, 19, also will have to make a certain number of personal appearances for the club.

"We basically have an agreement in principle," said Marc Cornstein, Milicic's New York-based agent.

Cornstein would not disclose the details of the settlement, saying: "All terms of this deal are meant to be confidential."

When the deal is reached, Milicic can shake hands with Dumars on his NBA contract.