Denver ? Denver Nuggets super-rookie Carmelo Anthony remains miffed that the Pistons didn’t bring him to the Palace for a workout before the draft last June.

The Pistons bypassed Anthony with the No. 2 overall pick to take Darko Milicic. The Nuggets played the Pistons Saturday night in Denver.

“They said they were going to do one thing, and they didn’t,” Anthony said of the Pistons. “They said they were going to bring me in for a workout, and they didn’t.”

The Pistons decided well before the June 26 draft to take Milicic. A workout with Anthony was canceled June 11 after the Pistons informed his agents that they would draft Milicic.

Anthony, drafted No. 3 overall, said the Pistons hurt his feelings.

“Oh, yeah,” Anthony told the Rocky Mountain News. “I felt like I wasn’t a good enough basketball player to fit in their program.”

Anthony’s time in Denver has worked out well. He’s averaging 20.4 points and 6.2 rebounds. He averaged 27.1 points in February and was Western Conference rookie of the month. Milicic, an 18-year-old from Serbia-Montenegro, rarely plays.

Anthony said he was more in the mood for revenge when the teams met in the exhibition season.

“If you try to do too much, you might end up doing too little,” he said.

Pistons coach Larry Brown was informed when he took the job that Detroit planned to draft Milicic. Brown has said more than once that the rookie wasn’t ready for extensive playing time.

“He’s working and getting better,” Brown said, “but he’s not ready.”