DeAndre Liggins, Dakari Johnson earn NBA D-League postseason honors

Former University of Kentucky stars DeAndre Liggins and Dakari Johnson both picked up NBA Development League postseason honors Friday.

Liggins, who had already earned the league’s Defensive Player of the Year and was a starter on the Sioux Falls Skyforce’s championship-winning squad, was named to the All-NBA D-League second team. He also headlined the league’s all-defensive team.

Liggins, who played in Russia and Germany last season, duplicated all three of those honors while playing with Sioux Falls during the 2013-14 season.

He finished the season averaging 13.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 7.0 assists (fourth in the league), 2.1 steals (fourth) and 0.5 blocks in 38.4 minutes per game. He was first in the league in defensive rating (96.0), second in net rating (11.4) and fifth in three-point percentage (43.4).

Johnson, who also played part of his high school career in Lexington at Sayre, was named to the D-League’s all-rookie team.

Johnson played in all 50 games for the Oklahoma City Blue. He averaged 12.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 blocks in 27.7 minutes. He ranked sixth in the league in offensive rebounds (136) and 14th in total rebounds (404). He was third in rebound percentage (15.5), which is the percentage of total rebounds a player obtains while on the court.

Johnson was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round last summer, and the Thunder still hold his rights.

The rest of the all-rookie team also included Canton’s Quinn Cook, Rio Grande Valley’s Will Cummings, Idaho’s JJ O’Brien and Sioux Falls’ Greg Whittington.

The All-NBA D-League’s first team included Reno’s Erick Green, Los Angeles’ Vander Blue, Sioux Falls’ Jarnell Stokes, Iowa’s Alex Stepheson and Jeff Ayres (Idaho and Los Angeles). The second team included Westchester’s Jimmer Fredette, Rio Grande Valley’s Will Cummings, Maine’s Coty Clarke and Canton’s Nick Minnerath.

Other players making the all-defensive team were Santa Cruz’s Aaron Craft, Erie’s Keith Appling, Westchester’s Jordan Bachynski and Micheal Eric.

This story was originally published April 29, 2016 at 4:12 PM with the headline "DeAndre Liggins, Dakari Johnson earn NBA D-League postseason honors."