The NBA trade deadline passed on Thursday afternoon, with several former All-Stars and future Hall of Fame players being dealt. Amidst all of the chaos, a pattern emerged: On multiple occasions, players who were traded at the deadline subsequently faced the team they were traded from.

The first incident of facing former teams came when the Sacramento Kings sent guards Dennis Schroeder and Keon Ellis to the Cleveland Cavaliers. After a win against the Los Angeles Clippers in their Cavaliers debuts, Schroeder and Ellis went back to Sacramento, this time as the visitors. Both players came off the bench and played 17 minutes each, with Ellis recording a team-high three steals in the win against the team that had traded them just days before. Ellis, a career-long Sacramento King before being traded, received a round of applause when he checked into the game. After the game, Ellis described Kings supporters as being “[the] best fans in the world, for sure.” 

Strangely, the win in Ellis and Schroeder’s debuts also featured an opposing player who was traded to the Cavaliers at the deadline. After losing to the Cavaliers, guard James Harden was sent to the team who had beaten him in the game that would prove to be his last as a Clipper. Harden’s debut came in the game against Sacramento, scoring 23 points and a team-high eight assists.

The first blockbuster move of the deadline came when the Memphis Grizzlies dealt former All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Utah Jazz for a package including four players and three first-round picks. Alongside the star forward, the Grizzlies sent Vince Williams Jr., John Konchar and Jock Landale. 24 hours later, the players were waiting on the plane that would take the recently traded Grizzlies to Salt Lake City when veteran Aussie center Jock Landale got a call from his agent. “I was actually sitting on a plane waiting to go to Utah and I [got] the call saying, ‘get off the damn plane,’” Landale recalled. Just 27 hours after being traded to the Utah Jazz, Landale had been dealt again, this time from Utah to the Atlanta Hawks for cash considerations. However, a new decision had to be made; the Hawks had a home game at 7:30 the next night, and Landale wanted to be there as soon as he could. He could either wait to get on a new flight from Memphis to Atlanta and potentially miss his first game as a Hawk or make the five-and-a-half hour drive from Memphis to Atlanta.

Landale chose the latter. “I thought I’d come [to Atlanta], get a good night’s sleep, get up, see the boys, work out … and just kind of get acclimatized.” Landale loaded his truck and drove the 400 miles from his home in Memphis to Atlanta. He arrived with plenty of time to spare and was cleared to play, coincidentally, against the Utah Jazz. With injuries to Hawks centers Onyeka Okongwu and N’Faly Dante, Landale was expected to be a starter fresh off of his drive without knowing any of his team’s plays. Despite the quick turnaround, Landale had a phenomenal Hawks debut. He tied his career high with 26 points, plus grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking four shots en route to a narrow 121-119 victory.

This pattern is not anomalous; with only so many players and teams in the NBA, instances where players go against familiar faces while debuting for their new team are bound to happen at each trade deadline. Despite none of the players in the aforementioned Grizzlies-Jazz trade ever having played anywhere other than Memphis, their debut game was against a former teammate in Desmond Bane. Jackson Jr. and Bane had been teammates for five seasons before Memphis sent Bane to the Orlando Magic last offseason.

In some instances, the quick turnaround from teammate to opponent leads to special moments for the players. Darius Garland, the player the Clippers received in exchange for James Harden, was able to say goodbye to all of his teammates individually before starting his new chapter in Los Angeles. Since the Clippers were already in town to play their game against the Cavaliers, Garland simply went from the home locker room to the visiting one. As heartbreaking as it can be for someone to have to say goodbye without warning to the people they had grown so accustomed to playing alongside, players tend to accept it as part of the job. “[The trade] felt a little weird just because you’re about to meet new people [and] a new situation,” Keon Ellis said after his trade. “Once I got in, I don’t think it was a matter of what they could do for me. It was a matter of me fitting in and doing what I do.” 

With the last chance for teams to trade their players during the 2025-26 season now having passed, teams looking to make changes to their rosters are limited to signing players in free agency or from their G-League  affiliate teams. This limit on roster construction makes it difficult for teams to make moves to improve their rosters ahead of the NBA playoffs. 

Historically, the trade deadline has brought some of the most consequential trades in NBA history. While trades that involve the league's most talented players are still what truly captivates the fans, instances where fan favorites like Ellis get to play for their home crowds one last time or where team veterans like Garland get the chance to say their goodbyes to their now-former teammates are rare. No matter what happens at the trade deadline, it always brings plenty of emotions out of fans and players alike every season. 

The next event NBA fans can look forward to is the 2026 All-Star weekend, starting Feb. 13.