I wrote the following comment on Woody Paige's article, "The Nuggets Can't Escape the Merry-go-mediocrity." It took a while, so I thought I would post it here as well to send some positive vibes to fellow Nuggets fans.

I am a diehard nuggets fan and I follow the team very closely. I can’t say anything quantitatively with certainty regarding our future in terms of how many wins we will have and when we will make playoffs. However, I can say that Nuggets fans should be extremely hopeful and optimistic about our current situation. I disagree that we are trapped in NBA purgatory or "merry-go-mediocrity." Rather, we have only been rebuilding for two years and already possess a strong collection of young assets with significant potential to develop into a collectively powerful team.

It is true that currently the warriors, spurs, and thunder are extremely capable teams. Yet, any desire to compete with them in the near future is a folly. Championship teams are not created overnight- nor over the course of an 82 game season. Thankfully, our management understands this process and is clearly thinking in terms of building the foundation of a truly great team by piecing together various complementary parts. I much prefer this method to hastily over-reaching and assembling a team that is a momentarily more competitive conglomeration of whatever talent we could find. I feel that this approach would lead to a team that would perhaps be able to reach the first or second round of playoffs, but be extinguished before ever advancing beyond that.

It must be understood that the NBA is fluid. Great players will only be the top players for a window of time. Upon examining some of the top-tier players that some fans and writers desire to pursue, it is evident that the NBA landscape will be very different when we become a fear-inspiring team. After the draft, I feel confident in our new players’ ability to contribute to the team. To be conservative, I will assume that only Murray and Hernangomez will succeed in the NBA. This does not indicate that I do not have faith in Beasley, Radicevic, or Cornelie. I just want to ensure that I am attempting to predict the future with caution. This leaves us with a core of Mudiay, Harris, Murray, Jokic, Nurkic, and Hernangomez with an average age of 20.33. If this group is able to age and develop together, in five years we could be able to be entering our prime as a true championship contender (emphasis on the could). Simultaneously, Al Horford will be 35, Steph Curry 33, Durant 32, Westbrook 32, Paul 36, Griffin 32, James 36, Love 32. A Reddit study by SuperRas examining the average prime of an NBA player using the top 50 players in history combined with "Hall of famers, MVPs and current superstars" to yield 71 total analyzed players found that "27 Years & 2 months is the average age of a NBA player in his most productive season." As a result, it is probable that when the Nuggets could become an excellent team, the current powerhouses will be waning and it will be an opportune time to strike for a championship. Furthermore, as we continue to build and grow, we will become more appealing to the future top free agents. Hopefully this will give us the potential to push us over the talent threshold necessary to honestly try to win it all.

Five years sounds like a long time, however this does not mean that the journey won’t be enjoyable. It will be exciting to watch us evolve every year and become more and more competitive. While we won’t immediately be ready to try for the championship, it will be exciting to watch us win more and gain increasing playoff experience. Our team is beginning to have an identity and a positive culture. I am proud to be a Nuggets fan and can’t wait for summer league to start, let alone the 2016-17 season.