Jason Quick is a columnist for The Athletic who has covered the Portland Trail Blazers, either as a beat reporter or as a columnist, for 30 years. While no person’s sports opinions are gospel, there’s no denying he’s familiar with the last few generations’ worth of Blazers teams from Western Conference Finals runs to the depths of lottery despair.

And he is not overly impressed with how the Trail Blazers have positioned themselves as a franchise.

In his recent column, the headline – Why the Trail Blazers are excited about finally being mediocre – perfectly frames his sobering and glass-half-empty analysis:

Probably no 30-something-win team celebrated itself more than the Portland Trail Blazers did last week. Contract extension for general manager Joe Cronin. Contract extension for coach Chauncey Billups. Back pats all around. But after three years of ugly and often nameless basketball, the Blazers were respectable, if not downright intriguing, this season.

He goes on the praise the play and development of Portland’s young core before taking a swipe at Blazers newly-extended general manager Joe Cronin:

Cronin’s extension was curious in that he has been an average drafter and poor contract manager, shortfalls that were counterbalanced by two savvy trades that likely saved his job. His star move was last summer’s trade with the Washington Wizards, which netted Avdija in exchange for Malcolm Brogdon and two first-round picks. At the time, it seemed a steep price to pay for the 24-year-old Avdija, but the 6-foot-9 forward was a two-way terror this season and has one of the most team-friendly contracts in the league (three years, $39.2 million). His other job-saving trade was insisting the Suns include Camara in the Deandre Ayton deal that sent Jusuf Nurkić, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson to Phoenix. Camara, 24, led the NBA in charges taken this season and has cemented himself as one of the NBA’s emerging 3-and-D wings.

Quick also questions why Cronin didn’t cut bait with some of Portland’s veterans while he still could, an opportunity that may have since passed:

The dead weight comes in many forms: Jerami Grant has a whopping three years and $102.6 million remaining on his contract… There are other anvils tied to Cronin’s ankle, but at least Ayton ($35.5 million), Anfernee Simons ($27.6 million), Robert Williams III ($13.2 million) and the player option for Matisse Thybulle ($11.5 million) are expiring. Why Williams is still on the roster is a head-scratcher. He was finally healthy at the trade deadline, when competing teams like the Los Angeles Lakers needed centers, but he wasn’t moved. The first game after the trade deadline, he reinjured his chronically hurt knee and played one game the rest of the season.

He then goes on to praise the coaching of Chauncey Billups, recently extended himself, as he piloted the Blazers to a 36-46 season (117-211 for his career) and who holds the distinction of having the third-worst coaching record in the history of the NBA (.357) with 320 or more games under his belt, trailing only Richie Adubato (.346) and Ron Rothstein (.296):

[Billups] has had a tough time winning over the fan base, but it’s hard to argue with his results. He has changed the culture of the Blazers from a soft, entitled group of youngsters who expected to play because of their contract and draft status, to a never-say-die group that gets up into opponents and defends. The Blazers over the final 40 games of the season ranked third in the NBA in defensive rating. If you remember, the Blazers for much of the last decade were one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA.

Reasonable minds can disagree about the direction of the franchise and the job performance of Joe Cronin and Chauncey Billups. For the former, you can be unimpressed with where Portland is or acknowledge their draft capital doesn’t really kick in for a few more years… or both. For the latter, you can point to a coaching record of consistent losing or take a recent promising sample and expect it to extrapolate… or, yes, both.

There is no right or wrong answer, and whether fans, columnists, and reporters like or not, the Blazers’ front office and coaching staff will have some measure of continuity for at least the next little while.