George is, well, curious. Just how good can these Nuggets be? Are they a top-four team in the Western Conference? Can they rattle the Thunder and Lakers? Or are they stuck in the “will they even get home-court advantage” logjam, along with the Clippers and Grizzlies and Mavericks of the wacky Western Conference?

Basketball is back. Coach George Karl’s Nuggets hold media day Monday and open training camp Tuesday. In a wide-ranging interview, the coach sat down to discuss the powder blue-and-white.

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.”

Last season’s team was plagued with injuries, notably to forward Danilo Gallinari, who is arguably Denver’s most versatile player. And the Nuggets grew up on the fly, with many players in their early 20s.

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.

Q: You’ll likely start Ty Lawson at point guard, Iguodala at shooting guard, Gallinari at small forward and Kenneth Faried at power forward. What about center?

A: Training camp is going to tell me who plays. My idea right now is Mozgov would start with Faried and JaVale would stay with (reserve point guard) Andre Miller. But again, I don’t (care) about starting lineups, and you guys are already stirring the pot. It’s all about how many minutes you play, who you play with, how well you play and how we play (when you’re on the court). Kosta Koufos is in the mix, too. Let’s make sure you understand that. In the last 15-20 games of the season, when Timo got hurt, Kosta not only played well but good enough to get us to the playoffs.

Q: Why do Miller and McGee connect so well?

A: I think Andre has such a distinctive ability to see a play before it happens. And JaVale has such a large, athletic space to get the ball to, above the defense. So the lobs and spins and all that stuff, Andre has the courage to throw the ball — and he throws it very well.

Q: What is your response when people say the West is just a race for third place, with the Lakers and Thunder the top two teams?

A: What I basically say is — that’s summer talk. You have two teams that probably have the most talented players, especially in their top seven, but it’s summer talk. … I have a lot of respect for both of those teams. … But that doesn’t mean we never thought we could overtake them. Our goal this summer was: How do we get better? And how do we move closer to the top-echelon teams?

Q: What is the specific goal for this season? How do you approach that with your team?

A: We’ve got to make a step (Denver finished sixth last season). We’ve got to make a step. Continually groom the team into the culture and mentality that we’re here to win a championship. Is the process going to take one year? Three years? Five years? That’s going to be determined, somewhat by us and somewhat by our competition.

Q: Is this the nucleus that can grow to compete for a title in coming years? Or do you need one more guy?

A: My feeling is, how you blend and fit everybody here, will determine how successful we’ll be. (Executive) Masai (Ujiri’s) job is to make us better. He’s aware of his responsibility, and he’s always going to be out there, trying to make us better. But I don’t think we’ve had a discussion at all about changing the makeup of the team this year. There’s a good chance that the 15 guys on the roster are probably going to be with us.

Q: Can you explain to the fans why a full training camp is so beneficial to the Nuggets?

A: There’s a big bucket of talent there. How I figure out how it fits, that’s one reason why I’m excited about having a full training camp. If we had a shorter camp (like last season after the lockout), I think you’d gravitate to your first successes. As where we can tinker in the exhibition season, see who plays well with whom and give it a two- to three-game experiment. Also, the same with philosophies of defense, how aggressive we can be. I think our offense right now is third fiddle, behind defense and figuring out rotations.

Q: Why is Iguodala such a good fit for your system?

A: I don’t think there’s any question that defense is what we need to get better at. I don’t think we’re a bad defensive team, but I don’t think we’re a top-notch defensive team. We gave away Kenyon Martin and some of the “A” defenders that we used to have, and last year we weren’t good enough defensively. We get a guy who fits how we play — he’s an athlete, loves to run, he’s a play-maker, but also a top-10 defender in the game. So how we build our defense with a great defender who can (defend) point guard, shooting guard, small forward and probably power forward.

Q: You told NBA.com the season should be 62 games, not 82. Why do you think that?

A: I’m just saying, philosophically, why do we start in October? It seems like a roadblock. You’ve got World Series, football, college football. To me, I’m saying — start after Thanksgiving. And come on, man, we all know the injuries and fatigue and four games in five nights, it’s hard to keep the stamina and intensity of the game.

Q: Which team is the best in basketball?

A: That’s easy for me: the Miami Heat. They proved it. … The one thing I don’t like is that everybody seems to like us a lot more. We’re becoming the darlings of the league — and I like being under the radar or people telling us we’re going to be bad.

Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294, bhochman@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nuggetsnews