The Denver Nuggets don’t have a pick in Thursday’s NBA draft, but that’s not stopping team executives and coaches from evaluating prospects in hopes of making a deal to acquire a draft pick.

That includes George Karl, who tells The Denver Post he’s been in his office a lot lately, feeling better every day and ready to fix the ailing Nuggets. Karl went through a well-publicized battle with throat and neck cancer this spring, which kept him away from the team for the last two months of the season.

“I’m feeling very good; every week is a little better,” he says, adding that he continues to use a feeding tube, but he feels good and is consistently improving.

It’s good that the Nuggets have Karl’s mind back in the building, because if they want to get back in the draft, they’re going to need some sort of trade. Karl hints that a deal to win the team a draft pick could happen this week, but he isn’t saying who or what is on the table.

The Sports Network points out that Carmelo Anthony needs offensive help and suggests dangling point guard Ty Lawson as trade bait for a good draft pick. That doesn’t seem likely. Lawson proved he’ll be an able and worthy successor to the aging Chauncey Billups. Still, the team will have to cut someone loose for a pick.

The Post reports in a separate article that the Nuggets tried to add former forward Linas Kleiza, who left the team last year for a two-year, $12 million contract to play in Greece. Kleiza’s agent says Kleiza will probably stay in Greece, where he’ll make three times the salary the Nuggets offered for this year.