This is neither a post about Josh Kroenke, nor it is about Tim Connelly. It's not about any trade suggestion (sorry rosterbators). It's not about historical revisionism. This post is about you.

You, the quintessential Denver Nuggets fan - tired, angry, restless, fed up, discouraged. This post is not only targeted towards NBA fans who have been following the Nuggets for at least 20 years. This post is also targeted to you, the millenial Nuggets fan; One who does not have the luxury to know what the Nuggets front office have been doing through the years (not your fault, don't worry). However, you do not deserve to read all the irrational negativity that has been flooding around the social media that talks/writes about the Nuggets.

"I don’t want a team that is one-and-done every year. I want to win."

"I'm not here to win awards. I'm here to win banners"

- Josh Kroenke, Nuggets governor

For most of the past three years after Masai Ujiri and George Karl were gone, basically anything that Josh Kroenke said has been brutally taken out of context. Especially his quote after he fired coach Karl, who happened to have won the NBA Coach of the Year award in the previous season (2012-13). This article is basically a plea for the Nuggets Nation to let go of their excessive distrust on the present Nuggets front office. After digging deep at some stats, it turns out that Kroenke HAS A FUCKING POINT. True, it's a cliché, yet it's also a mindset that every single person connected to sports SHOULD have.

Fans don't do the trades and it's definitely not their job sign free agents or hire coaches. We did not fire Brian Shaw, Tim Connelly and the crew did. What many fans do not realize is that their excitement and support can highly affect a franchise's longevity in a city. How the owners manage the team is a completely different story. So far, Connelly's plan has been nothing but encouraging for the Nuggets. The future is bright, but everyone in Nuggets Nation (especially the casual fans) must on board with it, regardless of what they know.

• Among the 12 NBA franchises to have never won a ring, seven have never reached the Finals. One of those seven teams are the Nuggets.
• Out of their forty years of existence in the NBA, the Nuggets have reached the playoffs in 24 seasons. That's a playoff rate of 60%. The Nuggets currently have the dubious distinction as the franchise with the most NBA playoff appearances without a Finals appearance.
• The Nuggets are the second-oldest NBA franchise without a Finals appearance. The Clippers are the first and they are six years older. The third? the Timberwolves, who are 13 years younger.
• Still have some tears left? Cry harder. Out of the sixteen franchises that have a lower playoff rate than the Nuggets, SEVEN of these teams have won a championship, and one of them won four. What's that team? the Warriors, who only reached the playoffs in 45.7% (32 out of 70 seasons) of their history as a franchise. Not so long ago we were laughing at them for being an injury-plagued, undersized team that does not play a lick of defense. Now they are the envy of every NBA fan, especially after hearing the news that KD will be joining them.

Winning games is one thing, but winning games is not the only ingredient to create a winning culture.

What do great franchises tend to have?
- Good ownership
- Good coaching hires
- Smart drafting
- Great player development
- Smart player movement

Out of those elements, the Nuggets are at best decent and awful at worst in each of those aspects mentioned. Most teams that won the NBA title have at least two elements where they have had a good record. And given their record in each element, it's not a big surprise that the level of respect and trust many NBA teams are getting are way better compared to what the Nuggets are getting.

For example the Miami Heat may have failed to reach the Finals last season, but given their reputation (in the past AND in the present), they are sure to get back in there sooner rather than later. The same can be said for the Celtics, Lakers, Sixers, the Bulls, and even the Pistons. This is why despite being in an era where the Warriors could be on their way to a dynasty, I find their success relatively surprising considering that they have had a spotty history in the NBA.

Many fans have been furious at the Nuggets' regression since Karl got fired, and yet Connelly has been doing A LOT of work in trying to get the Nuggets back to contention, not through reloading, but through rebuilding.

"I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I understand that life is a complex matter."

- Walt Disney

It took me a long while to adapt to the mood of an average Nuggets fan - the "absolute realist" or the "undercover pessimist". But I am deeply disappointed to see that the mindset of some Nuggets fans has been just "playoffs or bust." This is a good standard, but it's not what separates them from the other franchises who seem more deserved to win a championship. The constant desire of many Nuggets fans to reach the playoffs not miss the playoffs resulted to the Nuggets being the worst NBA franchise in terms of being stuck in the middle. According to Josh, he does not see a playoff qualification as a punctuation mark to a successful season, he wants to win when it really matters. They may be clichés, but the concepts of "championship or bust", "bring home the bacon", and "Impossible is nothing" matter so much in sports, even in a less-balanced league like the NBA. Reaching the playoffs is not a bad thing. What's bad though is the mindset of overachieving just to reach the postseason only to find out that the team lays an egg, and gets treated like playoff fodder for the eventual winner of the playoff series.

The post-Mutombo+pre-Melo era was absolutely the worst stretch of Nuggets' history but some fans have gotten so hurt that the Connelly era is being thought as the worst decade in recent Nuggets memory, which I highly believe isn't true at all. True, there's nothing to disagree that Brian Shaw made a mess of what's left of the Karl Nuggets. There's no denying that the Nuggets should not have missed the playoffs right after a historic 57-win regular season. But here's something that fans must accept - moving further than before is through taking risks. Sometimes, that means taking a step back and embrace patience. I don't know where Connelly's plan would end up, but one thing I know, he's currently better than Bernie Bickerstaff, Kiki Vandeweghe and probably on his way to being better than Masai Ujiri and Vince Boryla. Connelly has the tools to make a case for the best Nuggets general manager in history. And wouldn't it be nice for his tenure to have a ring on it?

There is no absolute formula for winning a championship in the league. The pressure from the fans, the assortment of players, and the constantly changing style of the league prevents the perfect blueprint to exist.

As fans want a championship team, we should not just pressure the ownership to get a "better" coaching staff, the "better" players, or the "better" general manager.

Trust the process. Thankfully in the Tim Connelly/Josh Kroenke era, the Nuggets are doing just that.

"Patience is bitter, but it's fruit is sweet."

- Jean-Jacques Rousseau