Undrafted Caleb Love Will Make $150k Less In The NBA Than He Did At Arizona

Nearly every player that enters the NBA earns life-changing money. Caleb Love will too, just not in the traditional sense. Love’s bank account will be decreasing by more than $150,000 now that he’s part of the Association. 

Probably not exactly the type of Draft week haircut Caleb had in mind. 

After going unselected in the league’s two-night Draft held earlier this week, Love inked a two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers late Thursday night. Two-way contracts limit a player to a maximum of 50 regular-season games with their NBA team. The remainder of their time is spent with their team’s G-League affiliate - the Rip City Remix for Portland (as if you didn't know) - and they are not eligible for NBA post-season play.

A two-way player’s salary for the 2024-25 season is roughly $635k. Big bucks, no doubt. But Love’s slated rookie season earnings are actually less than he reportedly made as a marquee player for the University of Arizona last season.

Apparently, Clyde Drexler’s not walking through that door.

Per Phoenix New Times, via On3, Caleb Love earned $795k at UofA last season as a fifth-year senior. Love spent his first three college seasons at North Carolina before transferring to Arizona ahead of the ’23-’24 campaign. Considering he averaged 17 points and four boards a game while being named PAC-12 Player of the Year, the paycheck totaling more than three-quarters of a million was justified. 

Arizona PG Caleb Love celebrates a dunk vs. the Oregon Ducks at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene. (Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard/USA TODAY NETWORK)

While a member of the Wildcats, Love had NIL deals with RITZ Crackers, Powerade, Keurig, Skims and others. 

Parents, raise your kids to be basketball players. College basketball players.

Now that he’s in Portland, Love will likely be losing more than just a chunk of his salary. The 23-year-old guard joins a team that loses games with the same frequency in which Love snatches up NIL deals. Or did snatch up NIL deals. 

The Trail Blazers haven’t lost less than 46 games since the 2020-21 season, which is also the last time they finished a year with a winning record. That was so long ago that Damian Lillard was still a Blazer, and his teammate was Carmelo Anthony. Love and Arizona lost just 14 games last season, including a Sweet Sixteen defeat to top-seeded Duke.

It really does pay to stay in school.

Follow along on X @OhioAF or email me: anthony.farris@outkick.com