Trail Blazers' Caleb Love Continues Solid Rookie Season Against Pelicans

The 2025 NBA Draft class continues to impress nearly halfway into the 2025-26 campaign.

Top picks Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, VJ Edgecombe, Kon Knueppel and others have all shined for their squads, while other players throughout the draft class have also become key rotation players.

Tre Johnson, Jeremiah Fears, Cedric Coward, Derik Queen and Walter Clayton Jr., to name a few, have all had their moments. Even Maxime Raynaud, a second-round pick, is earning minutes as a regular starter early in his professional career.

Aside from the players who were drafted in this summer's class, a few undrafted free agents have shown their value. Ryan Nembhard has started the last 16 games for Dallas, and Portland's Caleb Love has notched multiple 20-point outings to start his NBA career.

Love had another strong outing on Friday, Jan. 2, as the Trail Blazers defeated the Pelicans 122-109 in New Orleans. Deni Avdija led the way with 34 points, followed by Shaedon Sharpe with 23 points, while Love chipped in 22 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 27 minutes off the bench.

The rookie guard shot 7-of-13 from the field, 6-of-11 from 3-point range and 2-of-2 from the free throw line while committing just one turnover in the win.

After averaging 17.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game as a fifth-year senior at Arizona, Love went undrafted in the 2025 class. After signing with the Trail Blazers, though, the 24-year-old seems to have found a role with Portland early in his career.

In 27 NBA games, Love is averaging 9.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 37.5% from the field and 32.1% from 3-point range. While Love's shooting effiecency needs to improve for the first-year guard to become a more consistent scoring threat, he has already notched a few impressive outings.

Listed at 6-foot-4 and 212 pounds, Love could be a steal for the Trail Blazers if he continues to develop and perform well for Portland. The former North Carolina and Arizona star has earned more playing time as a rookie than the team's first-round pick, Hansen Yang, and has been impactful early in his time with the Trail Blazers.

Over the last six games, Love is averaging 17.5 points while shooting 48.1% from the field and 45.3% from beyond the arc. While it is unlikely that the undrafted rookie guard continues to put up these numbers throuhgout the rest of the season, it is certainly a good sign for Portland.

Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.