NBA draft star Darko Milicic has left Belgrade for the United States saying he is determined to sign a contract with the Detroit Pistons despite his European team's lawsuit claiming he remains under contract.

　　The 2.14-meter 18-year-old forward told the Dnevnik daily yesterday that he is "99 percent certain" that he will sign up with the Pistons despite the lawsuit filed last month in New York against his agent demanding at least US million in punitive damages.

　　Hemofarm Vrsac says agent Marc Cornstein and Pinnacle Management Corp interfered with Milicic's European contract. Milicic has played for Hemofarm in Serbia since 2000, and the club says it has him under contract through 2009.

　　By signing the contract with the Pistons, "I hope to end this mess that has emerged around my dream to play in the NBA," Milicic said.

　　Sources close to Hemofarm said that Milicic and his American agent have proposed ways to compensate the Serbian club in exchange for it dropping the legal action. They could not say if a deal has been reached.

　　"The problems are about to be solved and now I want to concentrate on my NBA season," Milicic said before departing from Vrsac, northeastern Serbia, to Detroit earlier this week.

　　NBA teams are not prevented from drafting players under contract to foreign teams, but league rules stipulate an NBA team can pay no more than US,000 toward buying out a contract. Under the pay scale for rookies, Milicic looks to earn about US million over three years in the NBA.

　　Milicic was the No 2 overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft.

　　Last month, Milicic angered Serbia and Montenegro basketball officials for refusing to play for the national team at the European Championships next month in Sweden.

　　The team, formerly known as Yugoslavia, is defending the title at the tournament.