Lakers and Timberwolves had handshake agreement for Garnett trade in 2007

Beantown fans may be surprised to learn that Kevin Garnett - an integral piece of the Boston Celtics NBA championship run in 2008 - was nearly acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers before donning the green and white.

The Celtics acquired Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves during the summer of 2007, sending Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, two draft picks and cash considerations to the North Star State. Garnett then formed a Big Three with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, securing the franchise its first Larry O'Brien trophy in over twenty years.

That would never have happened had the Lakers' package to acquire Garnett - which centered around LaMar Odom and Andrew Bynum - been enough to sway the Timberwolves.

Former Lakers head coach Phil Jackson, Garnett's agent Andy Miller and Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor discussed the monster trade that never happened in a Garnett retrospective by Bleacher Report's Howard Beck:

Phil Jackson: Dr. (Jerry) Buss came to me and said, "I have a handshake agreement with Taylor, that he’s going to come to L.A. But McHale hasn’t concurred yet." So I said, "Well that’s a good excuse." You always, as an owner, say, "I’ll do this, but …" So I kept that hope out there, that he was gonna be a part of the Laker organization.

Glen Taylor: Odom, I was a little afraid of. I thought Bynum was gonna be a star.

Andy Miller: I think that what McHale was looking for, on top of picks, was a core young piece, and he was infatuated with Al Jefferson at the time.

Glen Taylor: It became the Lakers, and it became Boston. And they both said, what does (Garnett) want to get paid? And I told them what he wants to get paid. I told them the kind of contract. And those two teams said they would do it.

Missing out on Garnett didn't hurt the Lakers too much, though, as they went on to win back-to-back NBA titles in 2009 and 2010 after trading for former Memphis Grlizzlies center Pau Gasol.