But Prendergast said the club would definitely be selecting one of the trio of young stars with its first pick in the November 29 draft.
"I can tell you it'll come out of one of those three; that's no secret," Prendergast told melbournefc.com.au.
"I've told those three boys at the recent draft camp that no decisions have been made and we're heading to Perth this week. We'll see the Naitanuis and the Richs and we'll do our homework and all of the factors that are involved."
Prendergast said the notion Melbourne would select Watts because he hails from Victoria is not necessarily correct.
"There is a lot of publicity that Jack Watts is going to be the No.1 draft pick because … he's the local boy. But the reality is, this organisation is changing and for the better and we're going to get a lot of things right in the next few years – I'm convinced of that," he said.
"One of those things is that you don't have a 'go home' factor. That's because the players that you actually get into your organisation love your footy club.
"We got Cale Morton at pick No.4 last year from WA and all reports are that he loves playing for the Melbourne footy club. That's come from independent sources. Daniel Rich said that because they're mates and that's the feedback we want to hear."
The decision of top draft pick, according to Prendergast, would be based around the philosophy of long-term development, not just for the player in question but for the football club as a whole.
"We'll just back in the best player for our footy club for the next 10 years. If that's Nicholas Naitanui, we'll pick him. If that's Daniel Rich, we'll pick him. If that's Jack Watts, we'll pick him.
"The big thing about them is that they're all different – character and positional. There's nothing final."
Prendergast said the club will select its players based on addressing the club's needs, although he conceded that was quite open in Melbourne's case.
"In some respects, we've got some really good developing talent in the place, but we're still a bit of blank canvass in terms of what we need," he said.
"Hawthorn turned up at last year's draft thinking: 'We need an inside 50 crumber' and there's Cyril Rioli sitting there – bang. There's the stars aligning for you. The impact he's been able to make – well done to them, but there is an element of luck with it."
Despite the focus on the Demons' No. 1 pick, Prendergast was keen to highlight the club's desire to obtain quality players later in the draft, as former recruiting boss Craig Cameron did with Simon Buckley (No.53) and Clint Bartram (No.60) in 2005.
