"Not until practice Thursday at the Berto Center will newly signed shooting guard Richard Hamilton step onto the floor as the missing piece of the 2011-12 Bulls.

Hamilton's reputation preceded him by days.

It told us Hamilton played no small role in the dysfunction that ultimately led to the demise of two fired Pistons coaches, Michael Curry and John Kuester. He clashed with Curry, who Hamilton once called a liar. He skipped a shootaround after Kuester benched him, drawing a fine. "He quit on us,'' one Pistons source told the Detroit News last December."