Would three near-future first-round draft picks be enough of a 'Wow!' factor and a gold rush for the Denver Nuggets and their legions to say goodbye to Carmelo Anthony? A majority of us would say 'Yes.' That sure beats the alternative of nothing or Eddy Curry's expiring, perspiring contact and Danilo Gallinari. The New Jersey Nets now have a potential five first-round choices in the next three drafts -- and seem more and more inclined each passing day to give up three No. 1's -- or at least two and a player drafted No. 3 this year (Derrick Favors) -- in return for Melo. The Nets also have a 7-19 record and, despite a victory Thursday night over the Wizards, already trail the Boston Celtics by 14K games in the Atlantic Division. Panic has set in for a franchise that new owner Mikhail Prokhorov guaranteed would become a dynasty in the NBA. The Nets wouldn't be a dynasty in Siberia. In Masai Ujiri's strongest stance during the histrionics of The Melodrama, the Nuggets' vice president of player personnel said during the first quarter of the Nuggets-Spurs game Thursday night: 'I am listening aggressively' to offers for Anthony. Ujiri had held out hope that Anthony would accept the Nuggets' offseason proposal for three years at a total of almost $65 million. But Melo hasn't moved a millimeter, and Ujiri, ever the optimist, has accepted the inevitable, unavoidable conclusion. Anthony will be gone before the trading deadline in late February, and that a trade is more than likely to happen sooner than later. Perhaps real soon. There was no deal Thursday night. 'Carmelo is still with us, and we're doing our due diligence every day,' Ujiri said. Coach George Karl continued to declare before the game with the Spurs that the situation with Anthony hasn't been an open wound. 'Over here we have Melo,' Karl said, extending his left arm out to the side. 'And over there is Melodrama,' he indicated with his right arm. 'Outside the locker room and off the court there's all the Melodrama in the media, and I don't pay attention to it. Inside that locker room and on the court, there's Melo, and he's been great. And our team has exceeded its expectations, I think, so far.' Although there have been reports that Melo will only agree to a sign-and-trade if he is moved to the New York Knicks, knowledgeable league sources say Anthony hasn't necessarily ruled out the Nets. The Knicks, without a first-round draft pick in the next two years, have nothing of value to give the Nuggets. Also, the Knicks suddenly have caused the NBA's most surprising uprising. Although they lost to the Celtics, the Knicks own a 16-10 record and like their chemistry and Mike D'Antoni's style. Although other teams have been contacting the Nuggets -- and the Bulls might re-enter talks with Joakim Noah out for up to 10 weeks -- they'll have to come up with more than expiring contracts and players who are not wow-worthy. The Nuggets want multiple first-round draft choices, so franchises other than the Nets would have to make multiteam deals, as the Nets did, and acquire additional picks to entice the Nuggets. The worse the Nets get, the better the situation gets for the Nuggets. The Nuggets can wait until the All-Star Game in February, put a folding table in the hotel lobby, hang out a shingle and find out which contending teams are most impatient to improve their postseason chances. The Nets are in prime position now but may lose, or have to give more, in a bidding battle after the first of the year. There has been the wandering rumor that the Nets would be willing to part with all five of the picks -- their own and another just obtained from the Los Angeles Lakers in 2011, and a trio in 2012 -- theirs, a lottery-protected first from the Warriors and another conditional first from the Houston Rockets. (The last two could be pushed back.) Five picks would be a modern-day, NBA version of the NFL's Herschel Walker deal in 1989 (when the Cowboys wound up with six picks from the Vikings for the running back) or the Ricky Williams deal in 1999 (when the Saints sent all their draft picks to the Redskins for the running back's rights). Every soul -- and sort -- in Denver would approve of five future players for Carmelo, especially with the contracts for several veteran Nuggets ending this year. Four future first-round picks? Yes. One? No way, no how. Two? Maybe, if the deal includes a quality player the Nuggets could use the rest of the season or flip at the trading deadline and get another first-rounder. The Nuggets have scouted the current high school seniors and college freshmen -- and believe there's another wave coming -- like the draft Anthony was selected in with the Heat's James, Wade and Bosh in 2003. Would the Nuggets take three first-round players of 2011-12-13? In a New Jersey minute. Ujiri is listening aggressively. Make the call assertively, Nets. Wow us, Nuggets. 