Blazers Sign Caleb Love to Two-Way Deal After NBA Draft

Love joins a young roster looking to vault itself into playoff contention as soon as next season. The St. Louis native had become one of college basketball's most experienced players. He began his career at North Carolina — playing three seasons for the Tar Heels before moving to Tucson for two more years.

The combo guard earned all-league honors in three different conferences. He was an ACC All-Freshman selection in 2020-21 after averaging 10.5 PPG. Love was the Pac-12 Player of the Year two seasons ago when putting up 18.0 PPG (he was also a Third Team All-American for good measure). In his last collegiate season, the Big 12 recognized him as an all-conference performer.

Love averaged double-figures in each of his five collegiate seasons. There's some good and bad with his respective game. There are moments where Love can go on a heater and absolutely take over games with his ability to score at all levels. In the NBA, he profiles as a microwave scorer off the bench. At 6-foot-4, he's got good size and athletic ability for the guard spot.

At the same time, Love is woefully inaccurate as a shooter. He's a career 38.0 percent shooter from the field and a 32.6 percent shooter from beyond the arc. Love also averaged 3.4 assists per contest to 2.4 turnovers a game.

Portland likely won't look at Love as a pure point guard option. He can function more as a shooting guard with point guard capabilities. Love also likely won't be asked to initiate offense, but rather to attack the rim aggressively while looking for his own shot. Unless his perimeter shooting/decision-making improves, he likely won't last long in NBA circles.

Having said that, Love is one of those 'irrational confidence' guys that always wants to have the ball in his hands. If he can improve on some elements of his game, Portland may have gotten a steal here.

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