LOS ANGELES — The trade that brought Matt Kemp to the Dodgers is usually measured by the things he left behind. Kemp arrived some 40 pounds lighter than he left Atlanta. Going from a rebuilding team to a contender lifted his spirits, by his own admission. Kemp ultimately seized a spot in the Dodgers’ outfield rotation, changing the quintessence of the trade from a salary dump to a godsend.

The trade is less famous for the things Kemp kept, like his friendship with Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman. Yet this was the first thing he mentioned when asked about facing his former team in the National League Division Series.

“It’s definitely exciting,” Kemp said. “Freddie, that’s my boy over there. We already started talking mess. Gotta get the bragging rights. I don’t want him to have the upper hand on me. That’s important to me.”

Their banter has escalated from text messages to FaceTime, Freeman said, “and the trash-talking has picked up since we found out we were going to be playing each other.”

Kemp’s career in Atlanta lasted 171 games. It began when the San Diego Padres traded him in July 2016, receiving Hector Olivera and cash from the Braves in return. It ended last December, when the Dodgers traded Brandon McCarthy, Adrian Gonzalez, Scott Kazmir and Charlie Culberson to Atlanta.

Of the six players involved in those trades, three are unemployed. McCarthy has probably thrown his final major league pitch; he suffered a season-ending knee injury in June, then announced he would retire after the season. Culberson batted .270 in a utility role for the Braves and started Game 1 at shortstop in place of an injured Dansby Swanson.

Meanwhile, Kemp turned in his best season since he last roamed the Dodger outfield, batting .290 with 21 home runs and a team-leading 85 RBIs.

“I’m happy for him,” Freeman said of Kemp. “Seeing him make that All-Star Game this year and starting in left field, it was fantastic. I wish the best for him, just not for these next few games.”

The accounts of Kemp’s time in Atlanta vary. Braves manager Brian Snitker quickly recalled the hamstring strain that sent Kemp to the disabled list in April of last year and another that felled him in July. Kemp’s 2017 adjusted OPS+ of 101 (in which 100 represents the league average) was his lowest ever in a full season. Snitker described it as a “tough year.”

Maybe the nostalgia effect was strong when Kemp reflected on his time in Atlanta.

“It was short, but I had a lot of fun,” Kemp said. “I played for the team that I grew up watching as a kid. So it’s pretty cool being in Atlanta. Now I get to play against them and I’m going to try to beat them.”

Juxtaposed with the end of Kemp’s time in Atlanta, his outlook was almost saccharine.

The Braves lost 89 games last season. The fallout included a permanent ban of General Manager John Coppolella, who violated MLB’s rules for signing international players. Alex Anthopoulos, the Dodgers’ vice president of baseball operations, replaced him.

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Dodgers beat A’s to clinch eighth consecutive NL West title For Kemp, the offseason allowed questions to fester about his desire to stay in shape. The five-player trade allowed the Dodgers to get under the luxury-tax threshold, but president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman could not promise Kemp a place on his 2018 roster. When Kemp opened eyes with his weight loss, agility in the field and power at the plate during spring training, it was heralded as a reversal of the course of his career.

To hear the Braves tell it, the Dodgers got the same player they remembered from Atlanta – only healthier. Freeman described Kemp as a fast friend. Swanson, a rookie last year, characterized Kemp as a mentor on and off the field. Snitker described Kemp as a hard worker.

“He was nothing but, I thought, a great teammate in Atlanta,” Snitker said, “and the circumstances weren’t great last year because he got hurt early and it was just hard to come back, because he’s a guy who wants to play.”

Kemp was not in the Dodgers’ starting lineup in Game 1. Joc Pederson got the start in left field and Yasiel Puig in right, as is Dave Roberts’ custom against a right-handed starter.