When former Arizona guard Caleb Love was passed up in the NBA Draft this week, it allowed him to pick a new home that should feel pretty comfortable.

By reportedly agreeing to sign a two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers as a free agent, Love will be playing for NBA and G League teams just a couple of hours up Interstate 5 from where he once tied the Matthew Knight Arena scoring record with 36 points against Oregon.

Arizona guard Caleb Love drives to the basket against Oregon guard Kario Oquendo during the second half of the Wildcats’ 87-78 win over the Ducks on Jan. 27, 2024. Love scored a career-high 36 points while playing 39 minutes that day.

Thomas Boyd, Associated Press

Whatever time he spends up with the NBA club in Portland, he’ll be playing for coach Chauncey Billups, who was a Hall of Fame version of the sort of high-scoring combo guard Love has been. Love will also be playing for an organization that employs two notable UA graduates: Assistant GM Mike Schmitz and VP of communications Rahsaan Gethers.

Maybe it’s a fit. The move was reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania immediately after the second round of the draft concluded on Thursday, and a clip posted by Arizona men’s basketball to social media showed Love celebrating the news. (Possibly since the move was not official, efforts seeking comment from the Trail Blazers were unsuccessful.)

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“I’m blessed,” Love said. “I thank Portland for giving me the opportunity and I can’t wait to get my NBA career started.”

After Love worked out for the Blazers last month, he told the media that he thought it went “really well,” and Portland may have agreed.

“I felt like I showed pretty much everything — my defense, my shot-making ability, my play-making,” Love said. It was about showing “mainly just my defense. That’s something that a lot of scouts and a lot of my coaches have been saying that I need to be great at to get on the floor.

“So that’s what I’m mainly trying to show but I’m pretty versatile. Whatever role you put me in, I feel like I can succeed.”

In a year when many two-way prospects with college eligibility opted to return to school, Love could have a good opportunity to prove his high-scoring game can translate to the NBA.

His two-way contract, expected to be worth over $600,000, would allow Portland to shuttle him between the Trail Blazers and G League affiliate Rip City, which plays in the University of Portland’s arena.

Love joins a Blazer roster that only gained one draft pick this week, 7-1 Chinese big man Yang Hansen. The Trail Blazers drafted forward Cedric Coward, who had played for three Pacific Northwest colleges, but traded him to Memphis in exchange for Hansen and then reportedly added Love quickly after the draft ended.

“Trail Blazers land perfect UDFA (undrafted free agent) prize before draft dust even settles,” posted the Blazer-focused Rip City Project website in a story about Love.

The Oregonian’s Aaron Fentress reported that Love went undrafted because he shot just 38% from the field over his five-year college career, and just 32.6% from 3-point range.

“Love is considered to be an attacking and aggressive guard who can finish above the rim,” Fentress wrote. “He has the quickness and athleticism to create his own shot.

Arizona guard Caleb Love (1) sails through the lane looking for room to put up a floater against Duke during the second half of their Sweet 16 game in the men’s NCAA Tournament in Newark, NJ, on March 27.

Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

“On defense, he is a competitor who utilizes his 6-9 wingspan. His major weaknesses are his shot selection and inconsistency.”

Earlier this month, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said he was “100% sure” Love would be in the NBA next season, though he also indicated Love would still have work to do.

“I think the right person is … going to make a well-informed basketball decision, and they’re going to be like, ‘Caleb Love is really talented. I don’t know how many guys can go out and score 35 points, easy, on Duke,’” Lloyd said, referring to Love’s final college game in the NCAA Sweet 16 on March 27. “I mean, he showed you something there. He might be a little inconsistent but I know there’s not too many guys that can do that.

“I’m very confident that Caleb’s going to earn an opportunity to be on an NBA roster. Then from there, he’s got to make the best of it.”

Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd pulls guard Caleb Love for a quick chat during the game against Houston at McKale Center, Feb. 15, 2025.

Grace Trejo, Arizona Daily Star

Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at bpascoe@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @brucepascoe

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