DENVER-- Having heard no trade offers he can't refuse, Denver Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe expects to be selecting Carmelo Anthony with the third pick in the NBA draft Thursday night.

And that scenario thrills Vandeweghe.

"We're going to keep a little bit of mystery in this draft," Vandeweghe said Wednesday. "But I will say that we love Carmelo. He had a great workout here. And what a great individual! I think he would be a great addition to any team and a positive in any community."

The 6-foot-8 forward, who as a freshman averaged 20.2 points and 9.8 rebounds in the NCAA tournament to lead Syracuse to the national championship this spring, could be the most polished of the lottery picks in this year's draft.

LeBron James, who will go No. 1 to Cleveland, and Darko Milicic, expected to be taken No. 2 by Detroit, might have more upside, but their immediate impact could be surpassed by Anthony.

"There's been a lot of talk that, well, Carmelo can't jump and he's not real quick,'' Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "But you know what? He's a basketball player.

"There are a lot of players who can run and jump and dunk. But can they make a pass, can they hit a shot, can they take it to the hole and create a play for someone? Those are good things -- things that we didn't have enough of last year, to be quite frank."

Bzdelik, who suffered through the Nuggets' 17-65 record last season, sees Anthony as a vital cog in the team's rebuilding scheme, which includes standout rookie Nene Hilario and salary-cap room to sign impact free agents this summer.

"Nene is one of the very best young players in this league, and he's been working very hard this offseason, getting stronger, working on his outside shot and working with (former NBA star) Adrian Dantley every day in the post," Bzdelik said.

"Couple Nene with Carmelo, who we think could be the best rookie in the draft, and then you couple that with free agency and the potential there, and this team could improve drastically."

The Nuggets have fielded trade inquiries from other teams, but Vandeweghe has dismissed them.

"We've had a lot of things fly by us, but nothing that kind of piques our interest," Vandeweghe said.

A complicating factor is the threat of legal action by Milicic's European team against any NBA team that tries to sign the 7-foot Serbian center. Might that scare off the Pistons from taking Milicic?

Vandeweghe insisted that is an unavoidable issue for teams that draft international players. Last year, Denver paid money to the teams that held the contracts of Hilario and Nikoloz Tskitishvili.

League rules stipulate than an NBA team can pay no more than $350,000 toward buying out a player's contract.

"To me, you just pick the best player," Vandeweghe said. "You don't worry about the buyout because you know it's always going to be there."

The Nuggets general manager doesn't expect the Pistons to pass on Milicic.

"It's kind of silly to come out publicly and say you're going to take somebody and then not do it," he said.

If the Pistons were to opt for Anthony, the Nuggets would have no hesitation taking Milicic, whom their scouting staff has pegged at No. 2 in the draft.

Denver also has a second-round choice, the 46th player overall.

While the Nuggets are in position to sign free agents, they aren't certain about whether forward Juwan Howard will return or pursue free-agent offers.

"I've talked to Juwan's agent several times," Vandeweghe said, "and I'm not sure Juwan knows what he wants to do yet."