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SACRAMENTO, CA — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope remembers his first time navigating through an NBA trade deadline.
The now 13-year veteran didn’t speak to people for two weeks ahead of the deadline, he recalled. Uncertainty clogged his mind while he was attempting to focus on basketball.
Caldwell-Pope, 32, is seeing his younger Grizzlies teammates try to get through a similar situation leading into the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
“You got to go through it regardless,” he said. “You really can’t hide from it. Whatever it’s going to be, it’s going to be. You can’t really control that part.”
“I can understand the frustration and how people feel,” he added. “You try to forget about it, and it goes by fast.”
The Grizzlies traded Jaren Jackson Jr., John Konchar, Jock Landale and Vince Williams Jr. on Feb. 3 to the Utah Jazz. No one knows who will be next. The team has been listening to offers for two-time All-Star guard Ja Morant, who was with the team in Sacramento Feb. 4 for the Grizzlies’ game against the Kings.
Morant was engaged with teammates on the bench while the game was being played and during timeouts.
The Grizzlies are in a different situation than recent years. Now they are headed toward a rebuild after hoping to build a title contender.
“It’s an extremely stressful time for everybody,” coach Tuomas Iisalo said. “It’s very hard to describe. I think everybody is just waiting to get over the deadline. Knowing what’s going on just stabilizes the whole situation.”
“You’re not sure if you’re going to receive a call, you’re going to see a tweet or whatever’s going to happen (or) someone’s going to walk up and tell you,” forward Santi Aldama told The Commercial Appeal. “It’s weird. It’s probably the ugliest part of the season in that sense.”
Focusing on basketball
Through it all, the Grizzlies had a game to prepare for on Feb. 4 against the Kings. When the team walked into Golden 1 Center for its morning shootaround, GG Jackson described the feeling as “a little different.”
He’s used to seeing Jaren Jackson Jr. on the floor already in a full sweat by the time the rest of the team took the floor.
Memphis turned its attention toward preparing for the Kings, but the upcoming trade deadline was the unavoidable topic. Some players checked their phones after shootaround and discussed the latest big NBA trades after learning what they missed during practice.
Later that day, the Grizzlies knocked off the Kings 129-125. Ty Jerome finished with a game-high 28 points and seven assists in 21 minutes.
Jerome, who played his third game of the season after being sidelined by a calf injury, mentioned how he got only one chance to play with Jackson. When Jerome joined the Grizzlies in summer 2025, he believed the team could compete for one of the top spots in the Western Conference.
“Yesterday was an emotional day for all of us at the facility, but when the ball tips, you got to play the game,” Jerome said.
Santi Aldama opens up on tough day
Aldama, who had missed the past four games with a right knee injury, returned against the Kings and was on a minutes restriction. He played 24 minutes and finished with 12 points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Now in his fifth season, all with the Grizzlies, Aldama is one of the longest tenured remaining players. He had formed a close relationship with several players who have been traded away in recent years, and called the past few days “not easy” and “very different.”
“Probably yesterday was one of the toughest days for me as a player,” Aldama told The Commercial Appeal. “I haven’t felt like I have gone through something quite like that.”
Jackson and Aldama had become a strong tandem at power forward for Memphis in recent years. Konchar was Aldama’s locker room neighbor, and Landale’s personality had meshed with Aldama’s in less than a season.
Aldama is still coming to terms with everything that has and could happen before the deadline. He hasn’t thought much about the potential opportunity to play against some of his former teammates on Feb. 20, when the Jazz will play at FedExForum.
“We always say it’s a business, but that doesn’t really make it easier,” he said.
Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.