I'd love the Fox-Markkanen pairing. I think Kaminsky was the better overall player(passing ability, PnR understanding, post play, shotblocking etc), but Markkanen is the elite shooter and younger.
I've fallen in love with Skal, and it's hard not to have his upside blind me from looking at other PF prospects. I think if you draft Markkanen, he'd fit much more next to Willie than Skal. Despite Willie's lack of shot blocking in the NBA, he still has a lot of upside as a rim protector. He can handle PFs or Cs. With Skal, he's very limited to PFs right now, and struggled tremendously on that end. Markkanen would probably fair a little better.
The only problem I'd have with drafting Markkanen is our hole at SF. I don't think we have a shot at Porter Jr(unless we're aiming for Michael next year in the draft). I also think there's 0 chance Skal can play SF. Malachi could bulk up and play SF, but he's ball dominant. I don't think it would fair well next to Fox. Maybe Temple could be a short-term solution for this season?
I've fallen in love with Skal, and it's hard not to have his upside blind me from looking at other PF prospects. I think if you draft Markkanen, he'd fit much more next to Willie than Skal. Despite Willie's lack of shot blocking in the NBA, he still has a lot of upside as a rim protector. He can handle PFs or Cs. With Skal, he's very limited to PFs right now, and struggled tremendously on that end. Markkanen would probably fair a little better.
The only problem I'd have with drafting Markkanen is our hole at SF. I don't think we have a shot at Porter Jr(unless we're aiming for Michael next year in the draft). I also think there's 0 chance Skal can play SF. Malachi could bulk up and play SF, but he's ball dominant. I don't think it would fair well next to Fox. Maybe Temple could be a short-term solution for this season?
Aside from that, Collins is a better post player, better shot blocker and defender, and better rebounder, and it's not even close in those areas. Both players are 7 footers, so that's a push. I guess my point is, Collins has at least shown he does have a 3 pt shot, and also has all the other tools of a big man. Markkanen has shown he has an excellent 3 pt shot, maybe the best in college, but other than having a few good rebounding games, he hasn't shown much else, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
If the Kings end up selecting Markkanen, I won't be totally disappointed, but I'd be remiss if I wasn't a little disappointed. I just think they can do better. However, once he puts on a Kings uni, he''ll be one of my favorites.
By the way, the comparisons to Ryan Anderson only holds up with the shooting. Anderson was one of the best rebounders in the Pac 10, and was an excellent post player as well. Just because Anderson lives on the perimeter now, doesn't mean he's incapable of playing inside as well.