Denver Nuggets Optimistic About 2012-13

Optimism is permeating the Pepsi Center. Numerous Nuggets have been working out this month while Karl and his staff prepare for training camp. No, the Nuggets don’t have any LeBrons (in fact, there’s probably some debate about who Denver’s best player is), but they are frighteningly deep, to the point Karl describes his roster as “a big bucket of talent.” In fact, you could argue that Wilson Chandler, who would start for many NBA teams, is Denver’s “eighth man.”
And so, 2012-13 is here. Are the Nuggets still young and growing? Or have they gained enough experience to be a factor in the West?
Let’s ask George.
Q: Can you describe your anticipation for this season?
A: We just had a summer of constant positive momentum. The Olympics were great. And then you get (JaVale) McGee signed and Andre (Miller) signed, both really important to our team. All our young guys had good summers — Gallinari had a good summer with the Italian national team, Timo (Mozgov) was kind of a superstar for Russia (at the Olympics). And of course, the (Andre) Iguodala trade was the (big) piece that makes us a better basketball team, though to get a good player you’ve got to give up good players. We’ll miss Arron Afflalo. There will be some games in which we’ll say, “I wish we had Arron out there.” But in the end, we think we made a step forward, and hopefully a step to get into the top-eight teams in basketball, maybe a little bit further. Our goal in the next three to four years is to build this thing and make steps toward a championship.