From Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post:

Connelly, like Ujiri, is known for his international scouting abilities and has a vast basketball background… “His reputation around the league as a front-office rising star is spot-on,” said Chicago Bulls assistant general manager Brian Hagen, who worked with Connelly in New Orleans. “I think the world of him. He’s a class act who is hard-working, smart and will have a plan and process in place for the Nuggets’ continued success.”… Connelly, 36, joined New Orleans in 2010 after working as the director of player personnel for the Washington Wizards. In New Orleans he worked under Dell Demps. Connelly first got his first NBA experience in 1996, working as an intern for the Wizards. After graduating from Catholic University in Washington D.C. in 1999, he was hired by the Wizards as the assistant video coordinator. He became a scout the following season.

From the Nuggets homepage on NBA.com:

Connelly, 36, joins the Nuggets front office after three seasons as assistant general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans, where he worked closely with general manager Dell Demps. Connelly’s duties included scouting, draft preparation, trade negotiations and player contracts… Prior to his time in New Orleans, Connelly spent 10 years with the Washington Wizards organization, rising to director of player personnel. His role included overseeing scouting, salary cap and database management, player evaluation and assisting the vice president of player personnel with all front office duties… A native of Baltimore, Connelly began working with the Wizards as an intern in the basketball operations department in 1996 and joined the team full-time as the assistant video coordinator in 1999. He became a full-time scout in 2000 and spent four years in that role before becoming the director of player personnel… Connelly has strong international connections, having traveled globally to identify talent around the world. He currently serves on the board of the GEN Basketball Academy, a Sarajevo-based academy funded by NATO, and has assisted with their youth camps… In addition, Connelly has also worked as an instructor at the NBA’s “Basketball Without Borders” program in Moscow, Russia, last year. His first experience with the program took place in South Africa in 2006. That same summer, he was involved with the Seed Academy in Dakar, Senegal.

From Yahoo!Sports.com’s Adrian Wojnarowski:

Connelly, 36, has been considered one of the league’s rising young executive stars and will move immediately into the Nuggets’ search for a coach and preparation for the NBA draft and free agency… Nuggets CEO Josh Kroenke plans to work closely with Connelly in reshaping the Nuggets’ front office and building upon a 57-victory team that earned the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs… Connelly is part of a younger generation of league executives moving into top management positions and has been compared favorably to Orlando’s Rob Hennigan and Phoenix’s Ryan McDonough as part of the league’s next crop of bright young minds… After learning that his best internal candidate, Pete D’Alessandro, had left to take the Sacramento Kings GM job late last week, Kroenke targeted Connelly and moved quickly to hire him over the weekend, sources said.

And lastly, from Scott Hastings’ Twitter account:

Reaction: All signs point to this being a good hire. As a Nuggets fan, that’s really all you can ask for. I’ve argued repeatedly that a youth movement (or, more specifically, those who are seen as “up and comers” in the NBA) would be in the best interest of the Nuggets franchise moving forward. Why? Because up and comers are hungry. They’ve paid their dues. They’ve earned the respect of their peers and have fought for years to get to the top. Moving up the talent-evaluator echelon of an NBA franchise is no easy task. With millions of dollars at stake, (most) franchises understand which types of people will ensure perpetual success. So it’s no coincidence that up and comers are usually very bright people. By all accounts, Tim Connolly is one of these types.

The great thing for Nuggets fans is that Connelly’s talent will be on display immediately, starting with whom he chooses as head coach to replace George Karl and whom he selects with the 27th pick of the NBA Draft. Not long after that Connelly will be hit with the ominous task of persuading Andre Iguodala to re-sign with the Nuggets, while at the same time not overpaying him. The upcoming offseason will present many challenges for the rookie GM, but undoubtedly, no move would score more brownie points with Nuggets fans than finding another team to take on Andre Miller and the last year of his contract. That would be the definition of starting off on the right foot.

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The Denver Nuggets have hired New Orleans executive Tim Connelly be the franchise’s general manager, league sources tell Yahoo! Sports.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 17, 2013

Connelly is said to be one of the rising stars in the NBA as he has spent the three seasons under Dell Demps in New Orleans as assistant GM.

In Denver Connelly will hold the position of Executive VP of Basketball Operations.

Now that Denver has someone in place to run the basketball side of things one would expect the coaching search to get kicked into high gear so that the team has someone in place in the near future.

Stay tuned at RMC for more news on the rapidly changing Nuggets summer.

D’Alessandro had been rumored to be the front runner to take over for the departed Masai Ujiri but apparently he has decided the Kings job for one reason or another is the better fit.

It becomes just another blow for Denver as they now must widen the search for a new GM again, while also interviewing coaches and preparing for the upcoming NBA draft.

It also continues to make the offseason in Denver look completely disorganized and confusing as it had been reported since the departure of Ujiri that D’Alessandro would become the new Nuggets GM yet no news ever broke of any kind of offer.

The Denver Post has a bit more about D’Alessandro and why his departure is a loss for the Nuggets and also mentions that former 76ers executive Tony Di Leo as a name to watch, though the situation remains very fluid.

Keep on eye here at RMC for more news and reaction as this tumultuous offseason continues in Denver.

First, the Karl interviews:

104.3 The Fan with Sandy Clough (at the very top)

CBS4 Denver Web Extra with Vic Lombardi

The Denver Post with Benjamin Hochman

Reaction: These are must see/listen. Seriously. If you have any time of the day to spare and are even remotely interested in the Nuggets and what’s gone down the last few weeks, you need to check out these interviews. I’ve been listening to Karl talk for the last nine years and I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard him this candid before. Here’s what I’ve learned from his recent “Firing Tour”:

• Karl knows he can’t defend his playoff record. He’s repeatedly stated that he understands how awful it is, but each time he also points out how successful he was in the regular season. This is true, of course. But at some point Karl has to realize that even though the playoffs only account for a fraction of the season, it’s THE most important fraction. It’s essentially like doing great on every homework assignment all year long, then bombing come finals. The best grade you’re ever gonna get is a C, maybe a B if you’re lucky. If you’re shooting for straight As, that’s just not gonna cut it.
• Karl claims the biggest reason he pressured management for an extension was for the security of his assistants. Perhaps this is true. At the same time, it’s a little suspect. It could even be interpreted as a classless alibi if taken the wrong way. I think there’s an element of truth to what Karl’s saying. But you’d also have to be pretty naive to think Karl’s some kind of altruistic alien from another planet who basically got fired trying to protect his assistants. It’s honorable either way. But let’s be real: He wanted the extension. He knew he was in over his head. He wanted assurance knowing that in one year, after he’d likely lost again in the first round, management wouldn’t be fumbling over pens around the office to re-sign him.
• Karl will go down with Andre Miller come hell or high water. He pontificates his allegiance to “YOLO” in the Sandy Clough interview the most. It’s amazing, honestly. It’s truly amazing. Karl still claims Miller’s 2012-13 season was “fantastic” and that he was the “rock” of the team. He says he was a top five player on the entire roster last year and that he was the only “five-star” leader on a team full of “two-star” guys. If you ever needed any explanation for why Karl was fired, look no further than these statements.
• Karl loved the Nuggets, especially this past year’s team. He says the 2012-13 Nuggets was one of his all-time favorite teams to coach and that there was something special when it came to chemistry, cohesion and his favorite work, “togetherness.”
• Karl says there was a disconnect with Ujiri towards the end of the season. He says he heard rumors that Ujiri was upset about his minutes distribution, that it possibly stemmed from playing Andre Miller too much rather than Fournier or McGee. Yet, Karl still claims Miller gave the Nuggets their best chance of winning in the playoffs. He even compared him to Dwyane Wade — which was astronomically comical.
• Karl says McGee would have started next year. Unfortunately, it will be one year too late. It’s also really easy to say that now, before the season has started, when you’re not even gonna be coaching next year. This is one proclamation I would have had to see to believe.
• Karl knows he had a contingent of critics in Denver. He says he still had fun with them, but ended his interview with Clough on a somewhat sad note, stating, “Unfortunately, I think Kiszla might have won this one.” I hope Karl doesn’t feel that way. He was in Denver for close to a decade. If anybody won, it was him.

In other news…

According to Yahoo!Sports.com’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Andre Iguodala will opt out of the final year of his contract. This is not good news for the Nuggets — in my opinion — if only for the fact that it comes right on the heels of Karl and Ujiri’s respective departures. To me, this is almost a statement. Iguodala could have opted out anytime recently, or in the near future, yet he does it immediately following what’s essentially turning out to be a mini-blowup of the franchise. I don’t know. Perhaps I’m being oversensitive and at the same time superstitious. But… he is giving up $16 million this year! A guaranteed $16 million!!! And remember, he’s an unrestricted free agent. The only upper hand Denver has in negotiations is that they can offer him a more lucrative contract than other teams. However, this advantage doesn’t expire until his contract expires. It would still be there next year if he took the guaranteed $16 million this year! Which again, to me, means he wants to opt out for a reason. I don’t know. Please, correct me if I’m wrong on this one. Or, hold me in your arms, stroke my hair and tell me everything’s gonna be alright. Either way.

Also, on a weird but good note, Danilo Gallinari supposedly doesn’t have a torn ACL after all — at least, according to a video he posted on Facebook. Hochman is reporting Gallinari will be back sometime near December, rather than his original return date which was slated to be around All-Star break in February.

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Earlier this week, Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post reported that the Pacers and the Grizzlies had, respectively, granted the Nuggets permission to talk to Brian Shaw and Hollins in their pursuit to find a replacement for fired head coach George Karl.

As such, getting interviews scheduled is naturally the next step in the process, although there does not appear to be any word yet on Denver getting an interview scheduled with Shaw.

Nuggets fans will undoubtedly have a wide range of opinions on who the best candidate is, who the best match is for the current roster, and whether it would be better to promote Melvin Hunt from within or seek to bring in someone from the outside.

But no matter where one comes down on the specifics, it’s good to know that Josh Kroenke and the Nuggets organization are assertively exploring their options, and getting into the thick of the hunt for the league’s top coaching talent.

As always, stay tuned to Roundball Mining Company for further developments and analysis of this rollercoaster offseason.

It was different from the normal NBA Finals analysis that has filled that space lately and something that many people probably saw and blew right by.

That tweet is below:

Spoke to Stu Jackson about competition committee recs. among them: proposed new ban on offensive players standing out of bounds

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) June 12, 2013

You see many people will see this and wonder why there even has to be a rule for this. That many teams wouldn’t think of doing it.

After all if a player is out of bounds it makes offense even harder since they can’t touch the ball at that moment.

But as most people who follow the Nuggets may know, for them this rule matters.

The strategy was shown in a few articles this year most notably by Mike Prada (Point #3 here) and Lowe himself (footnote #8 here).

The strategy makes sense. Since the Nuggets don’t really have any big capable of stretching the floor vertically or horizontally from 8 to 15 feet they need to find another way to create spacing and room at the rim for someone like Ty Lawson.

By staying out of bounds they do just that, forcing their defenders underneath the rim so that the Nuggets bigs cannot step into the paint for passes or offensive rebounds uncontested.

With the speed of Lawson or the finishing ability of Iguodala that extra half a second or half a step that they are able to gain on the opposing bigs gets them much easier looks than if the Nuggets bigs were in bounds and trying to find some place to be instead.

As fellow RMC writer David said when we discussed this a bit yesterday, we don’t know if the strategy was Karl based and therefore would remain Karl exclusive so in the end the rule may not matter at all.

But with a Nuggets offense that can tend to struggle in the half court as it is, anything that may upset that is a big deal and the lack of this spacing option could be just that meaning this rule is one that the Nuggets and their fans should be following as it develops.

Every last drop of frustration I’ve ever had in regards to George Karl and his quirky coaching methods has already been documented on this site. My well has run dry, so to speak. I can’t stand his stubbornness. I loathe his half-assed approach to working the refs and lighting a fire beneath his players’ rear ends when they’re sluggish and disheartened. I hate (yes, hate) the way he’s treated players like J.R. Smith and JaVale McGee, who need encouragement and guidance rather than constant berating and punishment. And each new season I cringe at the idea of watching him do the exact same things, in the exact same manner, that got him bounced in the first round of the playoffs the year before: no offensive sets, no defense, blind favoritism, (insert whatever other elementary aspect of basketball you can think of). But above all else, when I look back, the one thing that bugged me the most, that absolutely drove me up a wall, was the inability to criticize Karl — or even question him, for that matter — without feeling like a complete outsider, like a pariah who simply didn’t appreciate his greatness. Because the truth is, although I’ve often written about my strong distaste for his coaching methods, I’ve never really felt comfortable doing so.

You see, Karl was never just a coach in Denver. Not even close. Karl was a roundball deity sent straight from the heavens to resurrect Denver basketball from the depths of ineptitude and irrelevancy where it had resided for so many decades before — at least, that’s what we were told to believe. And if you’d been a lifelong fan of the Nuggets or someone who followed the team loosely and watched the media contrive annual features about his personal health struggles off the floor (which I admire him for overcoming) or how his longevity went hand in hand with greatness (so not true), you would have no problem buying into this narrative. But for fans like me — relatively young, open minded… not used to looking forward to the Draft Lottery each year — this was never an appealing ticket to purchase. To me, Karl was just a coach, and that was exactly the problem.

Saying Karl is responsible for The Renaissance of Denver Basketball is like saying Elvis Presley was responsible for the invention of Rock and Roll. Did he have a huge hand in shaping the direction of the movement? Absolutely. Was he incredibly talented? No doubt about it. Was he the face of the product he was representing? Without question. But was he the master architect of his realm, the man who built his form of craft from the ground up, fine tuning the rough spots and delving into the abyss of his own creativity to return with something unprecedented? Absolutely not.

Karl changed the way people viewed the Nuggets, just as Elvis changed the way people viewed Rock and Roll. He was a catalyst. In the end he may very well be remembered as “The King” of the Denver Nuggets, but let’s get one thing straight here: Karl coached. He did not draft players. He did not execute trades. He did not cajole free agents into coming to Denver (though he may have convinced them to leave!). In fact, the one time we know Karl put his general manager hat on he essentially thwarted the Nuggets from acquiring Linas Kleiza for David Lee because he liked Kleiza’s outside shooting — or something unreasonable like that. So the idea that Karl is solely responsible for the revival of basketball in Denver is erroneous to the highest degree and ignorant of so many other factors, mainly the Nuggets’ change in ownership and recent succession of outstanding general manager performances that resulted in a mass accumulation of talent, the likes of which the franchise had never seen before.

Just look at the list of names Karl’s had the opportunity to work with during his nine-year career in Denver starting with this past year’s roster: Andre Iguodala (All-Star, Olympian, top 10 pick in the draft), Ty Lawson (ACC Player of the Year, Bob Cousy award winner, fringe All-Star), Wilson Chandler, Kenneth Faried (NCAA’s all time leading rebounder, All-Rookie First Team) Evan Fournier, Danilo Gallinari (top 10 pick in the draft, fringe All-Star… if he ever stays healthy), Andre Miller (top 10 all time in assists, top 10 pick in the draft), Arron Afflalo, Chris Andersen, Al Harrington (Sixth Man of the Year finalist in 2012), Nene (top 10 pick in the draft), Chauncey Billups (NBA champion and Finals MVP, five time All-Star, top three pick in the draft), Carmelo Anthony (six time All-Star, NBA scoring champion, top three pick in the draft), Raymond Felton, Kenyon Martin (All-Star, No. 1 pick in the draft), J.R. Smith (Sixth Man of the Year winner in 2013), Allen Iverson (NBA MVP, 11 time All-Star, four time NBA scoring champion, No. 1 pick in the draft), Marcus Camby (Defensive Player of the Year, top three pick in the draft).

The idea that Karl has somehow squeezed refreshing, juicy, thirst-quenching lemonade out of a batch of rotten lemons year after year is one theory I will never understand. Outside of San Antonio, L.A. (Lakers), Dallas and Miami, I’m not sure there’s been another team in the NBA that’s had more talent flow in and out of its arena doors since Karl arrived with the Nuggets in 2005. Again, look at the list above and tell me Karl hasn’t had everything you could possibly ask for as ahead coach in the NBA. Great GMs? Check. A superstar player? Check two of the list. Leaders? Check. Defensive specialists? Check. Elite 3-point shooters? Check. A deep roster? Check, check and check.

But no matter what the roster entailed, Karl always had excuses for losing when it mattered most. When he had superstars he complained about team cohesion and immaturity. Rather than accepting the challenge of mitigating egos and in turn demanding perfection on both ends of the floor, Karl let the inmates run the asylum and seemed content to sit back and collect a paycheck while appearing disinterested and apathetic from the sidelines (after all, blogs like firegeorgekarl.com don’t get conceived for no reason). And once he finally had the roster he wanted, Karl already had an excuse built right into the structure of the team: He could always fall back on the alibi that he needed a big-time shot maker to win in close postseason games. Of his nine playoff appearances in Denver the only time Karl ever did anything worth noting was in 2009 when the Nuggets went to the Western Conference Finals. But as any Nuggets fan who meticulously followed that season will tell you, it was Billups who did most of the coaching, not Karl.

From an outsider’s perspective, Karl must have looked like a genius in Denver. He racked up 423 wins with the Nuggets, placing him second all time and only nine games behind Doug Moe’s 432 franchise wins for most as head coach in team history. Five of his last six seasons he notched 50 wins. And this year, after guiding the Nuggets to their best single-season record in franchise history, Karl was crowned NBA Coach of the Year for the first time in his near 30-year career in the league. If you judged Karl based on his regular season performances alone, you’d never have any reason to let him go. The Nuggets would have already inked him to a lifetime extension three years ago and would have currently been in the process of erecting his statue outside the Pepsi Center. But in every sport, there will always come a time when each respective league or tournament must agree to crown a champion. This is the best part of sports. It’s why the game is played. It’s called the postseason. And it’s where Karl failed most frequently.

I don’t claim to be a psychologist, but I feel the way I’m built, for whatever reason, understanding the mental aspect of sports has always been my greatest strength. When I watched Karl and his teams implode year after year in the playoffs I always felt it was as much mental as a breakdown of the system Karl employed for his players. Surely the fastbreak offense wasn’t meant to be run in May and June, but watching the Nuggets match up against their opponent was often like watching varsity play J.V. It seemed unfair. It was as if the varsity team (the team not named the Nuggets) had a better coach (not always the case), better players (not always the case) and much more confidence in their abilities (always the case). Sure the Nuggets would hang around for a while, but in every series there inevitably came a time when the Nuggets would just, break, down. It was always only a matter of time. Even in the Western Conference Finals when the Nuggets stormed in as a two seed and were a mere two games away from making the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, they could not prevent the inexorable breakdown.

Look, these things happen. Teams lose in the playoffs. Even really good teams like the Spurs in 2011 and Mavericks in 2007 (and Supersonics in 1994, coached by none other than George Karl!) get overwhelmed by bad matchups and drop a few they probably shouldn’t. But with Karl, these “bad” playoff losses happened every single year. Every single year. Every. Single. Year. Karl’s eight first-round exits in nine years is bad enough on paper. But when you factor in player-coach feuds, suspensions, Karl’s long history of underachieving in the postseason and a general consensus among fans that on more than one occasion Karl’s teams basically quite on him in the playoffs, it becomes much more than just losing to a higher seed. At that point you have all the scientific evidence you’ll ever need to conclude that George Karl isn’t the coach to take you to the Promised Land. And if he’s not that, why should a team chasing a championship keep him around?

As a way of somehow defending him and fortifying his worth, Karl apologists always had a counterargument to the above thesis. It went something like, “You can’t lose in the playoffs unless you make it there first.”I always thought it to be one of the more lazy attempts to cover his ass that I’ve ever heard, but regardless, these types never seemed to look at the other side of the coin, being, “What’s the point in making the playoffs every year if you know once you get there you’re not gonna put up a fight?” In theory, wouldn’t you be much better off floundering in the lottery for a few seasons with a chance to land a player like Derrick Rose or Kyrie Irving?

For nearly a decade the Nuggets have missed that opportunity. Not that it’s a bad thing — I don’t think anyone is saying they regret the last nine years Karl’s been at the helm. But the idea that perpetually making the playoffs only to bow out in the first round without a fight is somehow better than (A) contending for a title, or (B) tanking it so that you can obtain a horde of star players to again one day contend for a title, is just not correct. In other spots? Sure. But not in the NBA. The way the NBA is structured, you’re much better off suffering through a few dismal seasons of ineptitude than being just good enough to make the playoffs and lose in the first round. Just ask Matt. He’s a Bucks fan and will tell you exactly how awesome it is.

The point is: Under Karl, the Nuggets have been neither really good nor average. They’ve been good. They’ve been the epitome of mediocrity. Karl’s had everything you could imagine in terms of roster flexibility, talent and managers, and it’s showed in his regular season records. He’s had stars; he’s had perhaps the deepest teams in the league. He’s finished as eight and five seeds; he’s finished as two and three seeds. But throughout the roster overturn, Karl’s always churned out the same heartless, disappointing, underachieving results in the postseason. And for the first time since Karl arrived in Denver in 2005 it appears ownership has finally realized: It’s not a player problem; it’s a coaching problem.

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Over the years, Karl has grown on me. Perhaps I finally gave in and seceded that as long as Karl wanted to coach, he’d coach in Denver. After all, the Nuggets and Karl were a match made in heaven. (A franchise haunted by failure and instability meets a Hall of Fame coach who does nothing but win games in the regular season to the tune of an exciting, high-octane offensive assault? Perfect!) I guess I learned to appreciate (or rather, tolerate) the consistency and stability (weren’t these always the euphemisms for mediocrity?) he brought to the franchise. Although I knew every year would bring another disappointing first-round loss, I also had 82 games of pretty fun basketball to look forward to. So, there was always that.

I also have great respect and admiration for the way Karl has handled the many perilous obstacles in his life. He hasn’t always been dealt the most robust hand, yet he’s powered through one struggle after another to continue to do what he loves. His involvement in the community, especially with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and those affected by cancer, is an honorable undertaking that goes far beyond a simple ball game. Karl is a man who’s worked his way from the ground up and accomplished feats only a handful of people ever have. He is truly unique in every sense of the word. He’s a man with great pride who’s mastery of his craft will remain firmly entwined into the minds and hearts of Nuggets fans forever. Though I may disagree with Karl on virtually everything in terms of basketball, I cannot agree enough with the decision he made long ago to help others become better at the things they do, be it playing basketball or recovering from chemotherapy. Karl is truly a philanthropist and because of that I will always, always respect him as a selfless human being.

But without further ado, it’s time we bid farewell to perhaps the most successful era in Nuggets franchise history and usher in a new, and hopefully even more successful one. Though many coaches will follow in his footsteps and achieve a large number of wins (postseason, preferably), Karl will always be remembered as one of the founding fathers, perhaps even “The King” of Nuggets basketball.

Goodbye Karl.

It’s been one hell of a ride.

Hunt has been a longtime fan (and blogger) favorite within the Nuggets community. He was considered Karl’s top assistant throughout his tenure in Denver and often gave lively interviews when confronted by the media. Though he’s never been a head coach in the NBA, Hunt has always carried himself professionally and is well respected throughout the league. He’s known most for his player development and was largely credited for assisting JaVale McGee with maturing on the floor since coming to Denver.

Reaction: This is great news. Hunt is the exact type of guy Denver should be looking at. Though he’s unproven, Hunt has always come off as head coaching material. Charlie had a chance to talk to him extensively last summer and had nothing but praise for him. I also met him this past year at Nuggets practice and came away impressed. He could not have been more polite and informative.

As I stated several days ago, this is an incredibly important juncture in Nuggets history, for obvious reasons. The Nuggets next head coach cannot be an average, run-of-the-mill type of guy. You cannot fire a future Hall of Famer and follow it up by hiring a mediocre NBA head coach. The Nuggets absolutely must come away with a defensive-minded coach that management can build around for years to come. A young, up-and-coming assistant who could grow with the Nuggets’ already young roster would fit the bill best.

If Hunt turns out meet the above description, let’s just hope Josh Kroenke has the ability to see it. Hiring from in house would be ideal and something fans could hop on board with immediately.

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“What is happiness? It’s the moment before you need more happiness.”

This hauntingly apt delineation of human desire was uttered by the titular anti-hero of “Mad Men,” Don Draper, in a not-so-subtle metaphor for his own perpetuating unhappiness. For those who don’t watch, “Mad Men” is an AMC show that chronicles the death rattle of 1960’s culture through the eyes of either growing chameleonic or increasingly obsolete admen. It doubles, however, as commentary on the timeless endeavors of the human experience, one being the endless pursuit of happiness. Don, like nearly all the characters on “Mad Men,” suffers from perpetual disillusionment with his own status quo. No matter where he is in his life he always wants more, and the crux of the show revolves around life returning him with regressing amounts of less. His continuous failure to stop and be content where he is sends him careening toward a progressively vacant, self deprecating, and most of all, unhappy existence.

Sports fans live mostly in this Draper-esque world, where we constantly look at where our teams are and keep wanting more, mostly to the detriment of our own well-being. And that’s OK. The ultimate goal is a championship so what’s wrong about striving for it? But there is a fine line between striving for more and blatantly ignoring what you have. Somewhere along the way, the status quo of winning seasons and playoff berths year in and year out became not enough for Nuggets fans. The ever elusive second round became the narrative and the postseason failures eventually morphed into an indictment on George Karl.

Every loss served to feed the growing narrative that Karl “just couldn’t coach in the playoffs” and, inevitably, this confirmation bias began continually reaffirming itself. It didn’t matter that each season brought a new team, a new story and a new reason for a playoff loss. It didn’t matter that in more than half of the Nuggets’ postseason losses, they were the significant underdogs. It didn’t matter that the pre- and post-Melo teams were so drastically different from each other (as were the expectations attached to each), that it was unfair to lump both together as though they were related. All that mattered was George Karl represented the status quo, and Nuggets fans were tired of it.

Karl was a veteran coach, through and through, and as such he had many of the typical vices that afflict coaches in this vein. He was obsessed with “win now” and the rookies on his team payed the price for that philosophy with their development and their playing time. Karl had little time for projects such as JaVale McGee, and refused to start him against management’s wishes. He had a torrent love affair with Andre Miller that to this day remains unexplainable. His offensive system usually boiled down to some variations of “run” and “run faster” while certain situations occasionally shed some unfortunate light on his shaky rotations.

And yet.

And yet he hasn’t coached a losing team since 1988 and was at the helm for many of Denver’s greatest moments as a franchise. He’s won over 1,000 games in his career and was as successful with Carmelo Anthony on his team as he was without him, if not more so. He guided the Nuggets to their best season in history, and did it with a team constructed solely of players he helped develop and cast-offs he made fit better in Denver than anywhere else. He was continually handed flawed rosters yet he made the most of them, helping these teams to overachieve more often than not, only for the weight of his own hand-crafted fan expectations to crush him in the playoffs.

So now things have finally changed and for the first time since 2005 the Denver Nuggets are going to be coached by someone other than George Karl. With the architect of last season’s roster let go and the leader throughout the years now fired, the status quo is officially gone. But where does it leave Denver?

Tanking isn’t an option. Even if Iguodala departs and Gallinari takes a leave of absence the entire season the roster is still nowhere near bad enough to out-lose the dredges of the league. Those who think this is merely a minor blow-up, a lateral move the Nuggets are making on their way to true contention, are sadly mistaken. Letting the orchestrator of a 57-win roster go and firing the head coach who got them there is not the move of an ownership who believes in the makeup of the team; its a move of one who believes they need to rebuild.

But what, exactly, are they rebuilding? And how are they going to go about it?

This team is now a rudderless ship who’s lost its captain, and instead of completely sinking (which is usually preferable), its headed straight for a giant iceberg of mediocrity. This time next season Denver could very well find itself in the dreaded Bucks/Jazz territory of the last couple years, on the periphery of the playoff hunt with a semi-gifted roster and no direction.

The much maligned status quo is gone and that pesky monotony of mid to high playoff seeds every year (albeit the painful postseason losses that usually followed as well) is in the wind. The future is uncertain for the first time in a while and this has lead to rejoice in significant portions of Nuggets Nation. But in this futurity lies an abyss, a void that could send Denver toiling through the mires of mediocrity under a more ownership-freindly coach and a more “cost-effective” plan for years to come. I hope you’re happy now, because the more happiness you will soon crave may not come so easily.