Carter Bryant is a consensus lottery pick, despite what Arizona fans who really hoped he would come back for another year might think. He’ll be the highest-drafted Wildcat since Bennedict Mathurin in 2022.
But will he be the only former UA player from the 2024-25 team to make it into the NBA next season?Neither of Arizona’s departing seniors, Caleb Love and Trey Townsend, are expecting to be taken in the 2025 NBA Draft next week.
That’s what draft experts thing, but Tommy Lloyd has a different perspective.
“Caleb is going to be in the NBA next year, 100 percent,” Lloyd said last week.
The 6-foot-4, 195-pound Love does appear on some draft big boards, but not high enough to expect him to be one of the 59 players selected. ESPN has him as the No. 75 prospect, 36th-best among guards, while CBS Sports has him 80th overall.
Unless a team decides to take a flyer with its pick late in the 2nd round, that would mean Love would need to make the most of an undrafted free agent deal to get into the NBA.
Lloyd thinks the former could be the case, assuming it doesn’t base everything on scout evaluations.
“When eventually these decisions get worked up to coaches and the top front office guys, they might think a little differently than the scouts,” Lloyd said. “I think the right person is going to kind of get outside of maybe some of the things that you’re reading, and they’re going to make a well-informed basketball decision from a basketball expert, and they’re going to be like, Caleb Love is really talented.”
Lloyd points to Love’s play during the 2025 NCAA Tournament, particularly his final college game when he went for 35 points in the Sweet 16 loss to Duke.
“I don’t know how many guys can go out and score 35 points, easy, on Duke,” Lloyd said. “He showed you something there. You know what? He might be a little consistent, but I know there’s not too many guys who can do that.
“And sometimes when you’re evaluating and building a team, when a guy shows you a ceiling, you pay attention. Wow. He can score 35 on Duke in an NCAA Tournament game. Let’s just dig deeper on this one, and dig deeper, and then figure out, how can I get this guy to hit his ceiling more often? How can I raise his floor? That’s what those guys do. I’m very confident in Caleb’s opportunity, that he’s going to earn an opportunity to be on an NBA roster. From there he’s got to make the best of it.”
Lloyd compares Love’s situation to that of Andrew Nembhard, who played for Lloyd at Gonzaga in 2020-21 before he took the Arizona job. Nembhard would spend another year with the Bulldogs and when that final season ended he wasn’t considered a likely draft pick, but three months later he was the first player taken in the 2nd round by the Pacers.
Nembhard has started every game for Indiana in the NBA Finals, scoring 17 points on Thursday night to help force a Game 7.
“You couldn’t have told me Andrew Nembhard wasn’t going to be a good NBA player,” Lloyd said. “I would have argued with you all day long because I knew he was going to be a good NBA player.”
Love, who finished his career second in Division I history in minutes played (5,734) and in the top 40 in both points and 3-pointers, did not get invited to the NBA Draft Combine in May. He participated in the NBA G League Elite Camp where he averaged double figures in a pair of scrimmages and has since worked out for some teams, including the Denver Nuggets (alongside former UA teammate Oumar Ballo).
If he doesn’t get drafted Love can look to another ex-Wildcat teammate for inspiration. Keshad Johnson signed a rookie free agent deal with the Miami Heat last summer and ended up playing 16 games for the Heat in 2024-25.