Report: Former Cavs guard inks new deal overseas

Former Cleveland Cavaliers guard DeAndre Liggins has reportedly re-signed overseas with Al-Ahli, a Saudi Arabian team, per HoopsHype.

Liggins was selected with the No. 53 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft after a three-season stint playing college basketball at the University of Kentucky. His first two seasons in college were forgettable, however, as he averaged just 4.0 points per game.

A big reason why Liggins didn’t contribute much until his junior year was that he didn’t receive a whole lot of playing time. He averaged just 16.5 minutes per game as a freshman and 15.3 minutes per game as a sophomore. Additionally, he logged only one start across his first two seasons of college basketball.

During his junior season, however, things started to change for him. He stuffed the stat sheet for the Wildcats, as he averaged 8.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game across 38 appearances with the team (28 starts). He was also an efficient 3-point shooter, knocking down 39.1 percent of his shots from deep. He earned All-Defensive honors in his conference as well.

The guard’s contributions translated into a whole lot of success for the 2010-11 iteration of the Wildcats. They finished the season with an excellent 29-9 record and made it all the way to the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four, where they lost to the University of Connecticut by a final score of 56-55. Liggins finished with four points and shot just 1-of-7 in the loss.

The 35-year-old has played for seven teams — the Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic, Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat — in the NBA.

One of Liggins’ best seasons in the NBA came during the 2016-17 campaign, a season he mostly spent with the Cavs. He averaged 2.4 points, 1.7 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.7 steals per contest in 61 games played with Cleveland during the regular season (19 starts).

Liggins hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2017-18 season, but here’s to hoping that he makes a return to the league at some point before he decides to retire from the game of basketball for good.