Bob Whitsitt still has work to do for the Trail Blazers.

When the longtime Blazers executive agreed with owner Paul Allen that he would step away from the basketball operations after nine years, the stipulation was that Whitsitt would oversee Portland's 2003 draft as his last hurrah.

The Blazers are scheduled to have two picks -- Nos. 23 and 54 -- in Thursday's draft. They probably won't get a player who will make an impact next season, but Whitsitt insists the draft is deep enough that the Blazers will get a solid prospect with their first-round pick.

Whitsitt didn't rule out trading to get a higher pick, and said he has "a lot of things going."

If the Blazers had hired a general manager before the draft, Whitsitt said he would have stepped aside.

"A perfect day for me is, I've turned everything over, I've briefed the new guy, he has had however much time is left to prepare, and my biggest worry is, 'What kind of pizza am I going to have?' " Whitsitt said. "But the reality is I've got to be ready, and we are ready to conduct business as usual."