2012 Sixers Player Preview: Maalik Wayns

There is a lot of good news and bad news in terms Maalik Wayns's hopes with the Sixers in 2012-13.

Bad news: The Sixers signed him as an undrafted free agent.

Good news: The only competition for the back up point guard spot is Royal Ivey.

Bad news: Maalik Wayns has not shown to be good at basketball.

Good news: Royal Ivey has not shown to be good at basketball.

Bad news: Maalik Wayns is a rookie and Royal Ivey is a veteran and Doug Collins loves his veterans, so much so that Doug Collins is still texting Tony Battie "u r my bff i luv u"

Good news: If Lavoy Allen can break out and contribute meaningful minutes starting the season behind veterans, anything is possible.

Once a promising prospect, Maalik Wayns found himself as the successor to Corey Fisher at Villanova. Wayns never came close to filling that promise, though, and after a disappointing junior season, decided to turn pro and declare for the draft.

After going undrafted, Wayns spent short summer stints with the Orlando Magic and Golden State Warriors before finally catching on with the Sixers, with whom he will attend training camp. Sheep Wayns* enters training camp without much in the way of expectations and without much in the way of talent. Wayns improved each season he was with Villanova, topping out at 17.6 points per game and 41.4% shooting with a 21.0 PER and an 18.4 EFF/40.

*When planning who would write what preview, Mike Levin gave explicit instructions that whomever got Maalik Wayns must call him "Sheep." This is for you, Mike. I love you, man.

Unfortunately for Wayns, despite the year-to-year-to-year improvement at Villanova, this is not all that good in the grand scheme of things. Making things worse, Wayns has never been known to possess much point ability. So in addition to not contributing that much offensively, Wayns also struggles on the defensive side.

Wayns does have speed, though. And speed is good. If Wayns had shooting ability or point ability or any semblance of basketball talent on top of that speed, Wayns might be on to something here. But he does not, and his butt will likely suffer for it.

Maalik Wayns will compete with the indomitable Royal Ivey at the back-up point guard spot. While Ivey himself is not exactly someone who is going to light the world on fire, neither is Maalik Wayns. Given Doug Collins's tendency to favor veterans over young players, this might not bode well for young Maalik. But on the other hand, Maalik is just 21-years old and has room to possibly develop into something better than he is now. Royal Ivey by contrast is 30-years old and has likely already reached the pinnacle of his forgettable career. Dave will have more on Royal Ivey in the coming days.

Best case scenario: Maalik Wayns develops a shot, improves his point ability, and sees meaningful minutes while showing signs of developing into a competent back-up point guard. With this scenario, Maalik Wayns would essentially become the point guard version of Lavoy Allen in 2011-12.

Worst case scenario: Maalik Wayns and Darius Songaila are teammates in 2013-14.

Reasonable: Maalik Wayns makes the team, spends a lot of time on the bench, and only sees the court at the end of the game in blowouts. During his brief and sporadic appearances, Wayns fails to impress.