Before his recent 15-city pre-NBA draft workout tour, point guard Troy Bell's only other job interview was at FootLocker. He was hired then, only to discover that he preferred wearing basketball shoes to selling them.

Bell, a 6-foot-1 scorer who starred at Holy Angels in Richfield before going to Boston College, has impressed teams so much that he might not be available when the Timberwolves pick No. 26 in tonight's NBA draft. But if he is there, the Wolves might make him their first first-round draft pick since 1999.

"Troy's extremely explosive, really quick,'' Wolves coach Flip Saunders said after Bell completed his final predraft workout Wednesday at Target Center. "He has the ability to create his own shot and score. I said that he was the best player coming out of (the predraft camp in) Chicago, and where we're at, he's a guy we're going to strongly consider.''

It's difficult to tell exactly where Bell might fall, most likely somewhere between the middle of the first and second rounds, but he said he feels good about his prospects.

"I'm just lucky to be in this position," he said. "The Timberwolves are a great organization, and if I'm lucky enough to play for them, I'll be a lucky guy.''