National Basketball Association

Report: Paul Pierce almost joined the Timberwolves before Kevin Garnett came to Boston

Published May. 19, 2015 3:51 p.m. ET

foxsports

If you missed Howard Beck's incredible, multi-part oral history on former Celtic Kevin Garnett from Monday, you should probably set aside 30 minutes to flip through it. If you like KG, there's nothing not to enjoy about this piece. The stories, the personality, the information is all superb.

There's also this one tidbit in the piece that stood out. Back in the day, when Garnett was still in Minnesota and Paul Pierce was a still a Celtic, the KG trade could've gone very differently. From Beck's piece at Bleacher Report:

Danny Ainge, Celtics GM: Because Kevin and I were such close friends, we had numerous conversations over the years [about Garnett]. We realized that Paul [Pierce] and KG would be a great combination. We thought that they really complemented each other well. So we discussed the possibility of Paul going to Minnesota or KG coming to Boston, like which way is the best way to do it.

Phil Jackson, Lakers head coach, 1999-2004; 2005-2011: When I realized that [Garnett] was available and wanted to leave Minnesota, I put a big push on (to acquire him).

Andy Miller: Cleveland was involved. They were a distant third in the whole thing.

Glen Taylor: L.A. really wanted him. Well, I didn't know if I wanted him in the West. I thought I was getting better players. I thought L.A could not give me the players that Boston did.

Could you imagine if the Big 3 happened in Minnesota? How different would the NBA's landscape be today? I guess we'll never know.

(H/t to Howard Beck at Bleacher Report.)