COLORADO SPRINGS — What are reasonable expectations for the Nuggets this season? That depends on whom you ask.

Is it a rebuild?

While they aren’t preaching playoffs, the Nuggets are just as strongly not giving in to the rebuild narrative. The reason, they say, is as simple as looking around the locker room. Capable players dot the roster — three were part of a 57-win team three seasons ago. Proven veterans are present. And rookie lottery pick Emmanuel Mudiay leads a group of young players about whom management raves.

Being back in the lottery is not in the plan. This season, they stress, will not be a tank job.

“I know losing oftentimes teaches losing,” Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly said. “I’m not a big fan of that approach. Furthermore, I think when you have good, young players who are about to hit their prime, like (Danilo) Gallinari and (Wilson) Chandler, and they’re telling you they want to be here, and they want to be here probably at a sub-market (contract) number, it seems to me not to be the most sensible approach, to throw it in and be awful.”

A number of Nuggets have said they have a chip on their shoulder because of how poorly the team is thought of in NBA circles. They are eager to prove skeptics wrong.

But even if it was more desirable to go the Philadelphia 76ers route and put players on the court who are not ready to win games in order to get a high draft pick, the Nuggets might have a safeguard against that type of thinking. They still have the right to swap draft picks with the New York Knicks as the final piece of the 2011 Carmelo Anthony trade. If the Knicks fall flat and end up with a similar pick as what they had this past summer — fourth overall — the Nuggets could be busy winning as many games as they can while knowing they’ll still get a high lottery pick.

“Everybody can do it their own way. We’re not here to criticize 29 other teams and their approach,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone, who took his team through their first day of training camp Tuesday. “We’re just worried about us. But I think anytime you allow losing to creep into your culture, and your franchise, and the fact that you accept losing for betterment down the road, I think that’s awfully hard to get that out of your organization. Losing should not be accepted.”

When Malone interviewed for the head coaching job, Connelly made it clear what the expectations were.

“Tim didn’t hire me to lay down and lose games and try to get as many lottery picks as possible,” Malone said. “We want to try to be relevant as soon as possible.”

As far as Gallinari is concerned, “We need to win,” he said. “When we first came to Denver, there was a culture with coach (George) Karl and going to the playoffs for 10 years in a row. We need to get back to that level.”

Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or @dempseypost