Top 12 Athletes Who Never Should've Been Traded Since 2000
Trades in sports can be either extremely beneficial or hazardous to those teams involved. As a species prone to make mistakes, humans have really dropped the ball when it came to getting rid of marquee players.
Exploring the rich history of trades, we picked 12 athletes who shouldn't have been dealt since the year 2000. Covering baseball, football, basketball and hockey, we curated this list to feature some of the very best names in all of sports.
At this point, there's nothing left to do but join the debate and analyze all of our choices. Here now are 12 athletes who should've never been traded.
Wes Welker
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When Wes Welker was traded to the New England Patriots in 2007, he went from being a productive wide receiver—that caught 67 passes the season prior in Miami—to an elite weapon.
Welker's time with New England was staggering. In six seasons, he caught 672 passes for 7,459 yards and 37 touchdowns.
He became an indispensable cog during the Patriots' offensive juggernaut years. A man who changed the slot receiver position thanks to his calculated routes and toughness.
For their part in the deal, the Dolphins were given picks in the second and seventh rounds of the 2007 NFL draft. They used that second-rounder on offensive lineman Samson Satele, who played only two seasons in Miami before he was dealt to the Oakland Raiders.
We now know that Welker should have never left Miami. Think about the offense the Dolphins could have structured around his talents.
James Harden
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To think that James Harden was once part of an Oklahoma City Thunder team with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook is unimaginable at this point in time.
Harden has since blossomed into a perennial megastar for the Houston Rockets and was a runner-up to Stephen Curry for the 2014-15 NBA MVP. But that trade did in fact happen in October 2012.
The price to attain Harden's services seemed decent at the time. Scoring guards Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb came to OKC, along with two first-round picks and a second.
Unlike a lot of other sports leagues, the NBA is a real "star-driven" endeavor. While Martin has been a fairly productive player over the years, neither him or Lamb was able to fill the void Harden left.
What could have been a cap-stricken but lethal trio in Oklahoma City, turned out to be the dismantling of a Western Conference powerhouse. The trade was so awful that it even left former Grantland boss Bill Simmons distraught.
Darrelle Revis
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Constant turmoil is a way of life in today's NFL. Darrelle Revis knows this too well. Since 2012, Revis has played with three different teams.
The madness started when the New York Jets balked at paying the shutdown cornerback a massive sum of money. Without anywhere to turn, Revis was dealt to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before the start of the 2013 NFL season.
After one season jammed with heartache, the Bucs released Revis. He would go on to sign with the New England Patriots, dominate the league and get his hands on a Super Bowl trophy for his all of his woes.
Everything came full circle this past offseason when Revis hit free agency and re-signed with the Jets for a whopping $70 million over five years, per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
This brings up one burning question: Why did they get rid of him in the first place if the franchise intended to make him "Donald Trump rich" a few years later?
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Chris Paul
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Someone should write, shoot and produce an entire documentary dedicated to the Chris Paul trade. Because the sheer amount of disarray and confusion that engulfed Paul's move from New Orleans to Los Angeles in 2011 was mind-boggling.
For starters, Paul was playing for a team that was actually owned by the NBA. That's right; in 2011 the then-New Orleans Hornets didn't have an owner.
When the NBA version of the squad decided to ship Paul off, they actually got a decent deal in return. The problem was that original deal was struck with another occupant of the Staples Center, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Before former NBA commissioner David Stern abruptly vetoed it, the Hornets were set to receive Goran Dragic, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Lamar Odom, as well as a first-round draft choice, per Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
On a side note, the deal also would have sent Pau Gasol to the Houston Rockets.
Stern's decision to axe the trade gave the Clippers a chance to get involved. The club attained Paul's services shortly after and the rest is now history. Today, the script has flipped in Los Angeles, and Paul is a big reason why.
Randy Moss
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Around the same time the New England Patriots decided to go after Wes Welker, they also managed to land one of the most talented offensive players in NFL history: Randy Moss.
Moss' departure from the Minnesota Vikings in 2005 was tough to swallow for Vikings fans. Randy was not only a force on the field, he was also a character that amassed headlines and brought a level of "coolness" with him that the franchise hadn't seen before.
The next stop on the Moss express was Oakland. Besides looking dope in the Silver and Black uniform, Moss wasn't the same receiver. In two seasons he only caught 102 passes for 1,558 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Looking to get rid of the 6'5" pass-catcher, Oakland traded Moss to the Patriots for a fourth-round pick in '07. Moss would take that chance and turn into The Freak once again.
Four years with the Patriots turned into 259 receptions, 3,904 yards and 50 touchdowns—not to mention a trip to the Super Bowl.
Would Moss have ever realized those gains had he stayed in the Bay Area? Not a chance. Still, that doesn't mean he should never have been traded for a fourth-round pick. He's Randy Moss.
Jose Bautista
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Before Jose Bautista was ripping home runs out of the Rogers Centre, he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pittsburgh version of this slugger wasn't the same Jose Bautista we know today. With the Pirates, he had issues finding himself offensively. His greatest long-ball achievement there was hitting 16 dingers in 400 at-bats.
Bautista was quickly traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2008, and he went on to turn his career into a special one. His sudden surge of power led to back-to-back seasons with over 40 home runs and 100 RBI.
Had the Pirates known he would have turned into that type of player, I'm sure they would have made room for him in their clubhouse.
Joe Thornton
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The Boston Bruins got rid of center Joe Thornton in 2005 for forwards Wayne Primeau, Marco Sturm and defenseman Brad Stuart.
Thornton took that second chance and ran with it. He became the San Jose Sharks all-time leader in assists and right now is second in total points behind the great Patrick Marleau.
Strong totals like that help turn the Sharks into contenders and also allowed Thornton to win the Hart and Art Ross awards in '06.
For their part in the deal, Boston didn't completely sink. A few seasons later it also became an Eastern Conference powerhouse and topped it off by winning the Stanley Cup at the conclusion of the 2010-11 season.
Too bad all three players they got in return for Thornton weren't a part of those great clubs.
Vince Carter
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Vince Carter may be near the end of his career right now, but the former high-flyer will go down as one of the most exciting guards in recent memory.
Carter's tenure started in spectacular fashion all the way up in Toronto. As a proud member of the Raptors, VC showed why he is, without question, one of the top scorers that franchise has ever seen.
Seven seasons with the Raptors puts Carter second on the team's all-time scoring list, behind only Chris Bosh. However, his 23.4 points per game average ranks him No. 1 in franchise history.
It seems more recent than this, but it was 2004 when Carter was shipped off to the Garden State. Joining the now defunct New Jersey Nets, the exchange for VC included an aging Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams, Aaron Williams and a pair of first-round picks.
Neither Williams nor Mourning did much for the Raptors, which in retrospect made the deal look incredibly lopsided.
Meanwhile, Carter went on to score 23.6 points per game in five seasons with his new club, making Raptors fans all over the world wish their team kept the high-flying guard.
Miguel Cabrera
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Leave it to the Miami Marlins—formerly known as the Florida Marlins—to trade one of the baseball's top hitters for a few sought-after prospects.
To be fair to the Marlins, at the time the deal wasn't complete rubbish. They were landing two minor league players who were supposed to be darn good—outfielder Cameron Maybin and pitcher Andrew Miller.
Along with that, the Marlins were also struggling to secure a new stadium. Because of that, they dealt Cabrera and pitcher Dontrelle Willis to the Detroit Tigers in 2008.
Cabrera exploded and became one of the most destructive hitters in professional baseball. He's won two American League MVP awards, hit 263 home runs, has a batting average of .325 with Detroit, and to top it all off, he even won baseball's Triple Crown in 2012.
Financials aside, the Marlins could have been a completely different team had they found a way to keep Miguel Cabrera.
Tony Gonzalez
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The greatest tight end in NFL history was traded to the Atlanta Falcons in 2009 for a second-round draft choice the following year.
It was the Kansas City Chiefs who were the culprits of this deal. They moved a 10-time Pro Bowler—at the time—to try to better their chances of loading up during the draft.
When you go 2-14 the prior season like the Chiefs did, deals like that tend to be made.
Gonzalez continued his crazy line of production in Atlanta, catching 409 passes for 4,187 yards and 35 touchdowns. He also made it back to the Pro Bowl four times in five seasons.
The trade itself didn't bring any rewards to Kansas City. It followed up that 2-14 season with another awful 4-12 showing. Eventually the Chiefs would turn things around, but it wasn't because of the player they picked in lieu of the Gonzalez trade.
Cornerback Javier Arenas never got it going, recording two interceptions in his brief three-year stint with the Chiefs.
A second-round pick for Gonzalez was fair value. It's just too bad that the Chiefs wasted the selection. And that, my friends, is why the Chiefs should have never dealt legend they call Tony G in the first place.
Curt Schilling
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The Arizona Diamondbacks wanted to make World Series run. When they got Curt Schilling from the Philadelphia Phillies in 2000, they just did that.
Schilling joined forces with Randy Johnson in the desert in order to annihilate folks Terminator 2 style. Four years of clean pitching in Arizona led Schilling to win a World Series title, 58 games and post a 3.14 ERA.
What's even more bizarre looking back is the fact that Schilling has been dealt numerous times over his illustrious career, as Dayn Perry of CBS Sports touched on.
The Boston Red Sox won a pair of World Series crowns with him as well as the Diamondbacks.
Baseball can be a finicky sport when it comes to trades and free agency. Schilling floating around like a kid in a bouncy castle proves that.
Patrick Sharp
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Before Patrick Sharp was a key contributor to the Chicago Blackhawks, he was a member of the Philadelphia Flyers.
At the ripe age of 24, the Flyers sent him packing to Chicago to try his hand in the Windy City. What did the Flyers get in return for Sharp? Right-winger Matt Ellison and a third-round draft pick.
Ellison played only seven games in Philly before he left the NHL for good. Sharp, on the other hand, took flight.
He joined the likes of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, won two Stanley Cups and has scored a total of 511 points in 10 years with the Hawks.
Looks like the Flyers really dropped the puck giving away such a talented player for mere pennies on the dollar.
All statistics and trade information via ESPN.com, unless noted otherwise.
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