If the Detroit Pistons are beyond frustrated with Richard Hamilton, it's because he had a chance to be playing elsewhere and didn't take it.
Hamilton has been unhappy with the Pistons in general and coach John Kuester in particular and was supposedly behind a team boycott of Friday's shootaround in Philadelphia before a 110-94 loss to the 76ers.
Sources now say, though, that the idea of a team boycott is "overblown" and that only Hamilton missed the shootaround without explanation.
However, Kuester told the media that Hamilton, Chris Wilcox, Austin Daye and Rodney Stuckey will be fined for missing the shootaround, in accordance with team policy.
The vexing part for the Pistons is that Hamilton could be with a bona fide playoff team right now.
The Pistons had a deal arranged with the Cleveland Cavaliers to acquire Hamilton, league sources say.
The Pistons would have added a first-round pick to compensate the Cavaliers for taking Hamilton off their hands. Cleveland could have absorbed Hamilton's contract with a $12 million trade exception.
The Cavaliers, league sources say, were willing to buy out Hamilton immediately or wait until the summer and buy out the last year of his contract. Sources say both the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls were aware of the deal and were looking to add Hamilton to their roster once he was available.
The Bulls, in particular, thought he could start for them, according to a source.
Hamilton, however, declined to consider a buyout, now or later, and the deal died, sources say.
Neither Pistons president Joe Dumars nor Leon Rose, Hamilton's agent, were available for comment.
Sources say the alleged player boycott was actually a "perfect storm" that resulted in half of the team not showing up or showing up late. Tayshaun Prince and Tracy McGrady were both ill. Ben Wallace has a brother who is gravely ill and has been emotionally distraught for several days. Wilcox overslept and Daye and Stuckey missed the team bus because the departure time was moved up from 11 to 10:30 a.m. ET. They have insisted to team officials they did not receive notification of the change.
The only player who actually missed shootaround without explanation, one source said, was Hamilton.
"The team boycott idea is being overblown," the source said. "It was more miscommunication than defiance."
Sources told the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News on Friday that the shootaround boycott was directed at Kuester, who has clashed with players in the past.
Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com Friday that Pistons veterans tried to organize a teamwide boycott of Detroit's shootaround before its last game prior to the All-Star break.
But the walkout was called off, sources said, when some Pistons players were told that Kuester was about to be dismissed during All-Star Weekend. Detroit went out that night and scored a 115-109 overtime victory at home over a hot Indiana team.
Prior to Friday's game in Philadelphia, sources said, similar attempts were made by the same veterans to organize a teamwide no-show at the morning shootaround again, presumably in response to the fact that no trades were made before Thursday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline and the fact that Kuester was not let go.
All of the players who missed or were late to shootaround were held out of Detroit's Friday night loss. That left the Pistons with only six available players: Will Bynum, Ben Gordon, Jason Maxiell, Greg Monroe, DaJuan Summers and Charlie Villanueva.
