ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥

Nor is it all about the 28 points he dropped on Duke in the 2022 Final Four, nor the 35 he had on the Blue Devils in the 2025 Sweet 16. Probably not even his 2024 Pac-12 Player of the Year award, either.

Instead, like so many trends in high-level basketball these days, you can probably trace a lot of it to NIL.

A year after NIL appeared to prompt Love to withdraw from the draft because he would likely earn more at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ last season than as a borderline NBA prospect, the trend accelerated this spring: Players uncertain of a first-round NBA pick who still had eligibility left often stayed in college to sign seven-figure NIL deals, assuring them of well more than a standard two-way contract that pays less than $600,000.

As a result, that left more room for prospects who didn’t have college eligibility to move up — to get a second-round pick, a two-way contract, or just a better opportunity.

Rated No. 89 before last season on NBA prospects — and left off it entirely in editions released during last season — Love now stands at No. 69.

“I think all the guys pulling out of the draft helped him quite a bit,� ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony said on a media Zoom conference Monday. “It’s definitely not out of the question that he hears his name called in the 50s and, if not, he could very well earn himself a two-way contract, summer league (contract) or whatever.�

has Love rated No. 61 among the top 100 draft-eligible prospects, implying he’d theoretically be the second player not taken in the 59-player draft, while ranks Love at 63.

That sort of position arguably sets a player up better than a mid- to -low second round selection, since the player gets to pick the team with the best opportunity competitively and financially.

“It’s about finding the right home and the right fit,� Bobby Marks, ESPN’s “Front Office Insider� said when asked about Love on a conference call Monday. “Sometimes getting drafted looks good on your Wikipedia page, but it’s ‘Where can you go?’ �

Marks said Love is “at worst a two-way guy,� meaning he could at least warrant that six-figure contract that allows him to split time between the NBA and G League. Marks compared Love’s situation to that of Philadelphia forward Justin Edwards, who went undrafted out of Kentucky last year but played his way from a two-way deal into a standard deal.

Edwards wound up playing 44 games and averaging 26.3 minutes for the Sixers in part because of the team’s injuries. But while Edwards is a different player than Love, with different skills and size, Marks indicated he’s an example of what a properly selected two-way deal can lead to.

They can lead to opportunity, in Love’s case the chance to prove he’s more than just a 6-4 volume scorer with sometimes less than ideal efficiency. He averaged 17.6 points over two seasons at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ despite shooting only 33.6% overall, but improved defensively and on the ball.

Love may have to do more of all that to stick in the NBA.

“The defensive side is probably going to be really important for him,� Givony said. “I think he’s been a little bit inconsistent on that end of the floor. The shot selection has always been a question mark, and the playmaking ability, finding guys.

“He has a career 43.2% two-point percentage, so he’s obviously not a high-level finisher, with a lot of tough mid-range jumpers. So those are probably going to be the key elements that teams are going to be looking for to see if he could carve out a role as a combo guard off the bench long-term.�

To see if he can, basically, beat some pretty long odds.

“It’s hard to be a combo guard in the NBA,� The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie wrote in his analysis of Love. “You have to essentially be elite as a shooter and as a scorer. You have to be ridiculously gifted and consistent to make this kind of game work.�

After a workout with the Portland Trail Blazers last month, Love said NBA executives have told him they like his physicality and defensive potential, but that he knew he would have to improve his shot selection while playing with better talent in the NBA.

“My decision-making on the catch, making quick decisions, I think that’s gonna help me,� Love said.

Especially with the unique leverage he likely will find in this year’s draft pool, Love will at least get an opportunity to show he can make it work.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ coach Tommy Lloyd said he was “100% sureâ€� Love would be in the NBA next season, though he later 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. “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.

“And sometimes when you’re evaluating and building a team, when a guy shows you his ceiling, you pay attention: ‘Wow. He can score 35 on Duke in an NCAA tournament game? Let’s dig deeper on this one,’ and then figure out, ‘How can I get this guy to hit his ceiling more often? And how can I raise his floor?’ That’s what those guys do.

“So 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.�