The European team with the rights to Darko Milicic -- the Detroit Pistons' top pick and the No. 2 overall selection in last month's NBA draft -- has reduced its original $10-million buyout proposal, the Detroit Free Press reported Sunday.

Milicic, 18, and his agent, Marc Cornstein, are in continuing negotiations with Hemofarm Vrsac to buy out the remaining five years of Milicic's contract so he can begin his NBA career with Detroit next season. The Pistons and representatives for the 7-foot-1 forward hope that a deal happens soon.

Under NBA rules, the team drafting a foreign player can pay only $350,000 to the overseas team that holds the player's rights. The player is responsible for paying the rest. Under the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, Milicic, as the second pick in the draft, can earn about $2.996 million in the coming season.

A key point for Milicic is that he wants to spread the payments over several years.

In late June, Hemofarm said it would file a lawsuit against any NBA team that drafted Milicic and attempted to sign him. Milicic has played for Hemofarm since 2000, and the club said it has Milicic under contract through 2009.

"We are open for negotiations on the issue," Miodrag Babic, president of Hemofarm Group, said in a statement before the NBA Draft. "The contracts in question are valid."