Interesting... You raised Malone's height (6'9") and rounded up Barkley's (6'4.5" by most accounts) to make a point? In reality, Zion is closer to the midpoint of the two, but with the strength and verticality to do what Barkley couldn't: match up with Malone.
LOL! Stop being so pedantic. Like an inch one way or the other is making a point when at the time they played these were heights that often were attributed to them. Good lord, dude. Have some coffee. Read the funnies before you post. And the point about Barkley's height in comparison to Williamson's actually was meant as a positive toward Zion and an example of how he might develop into a Hall of Famer despite being considerably short for his position. Barkley and Adrian Dantley were two of the best "small" power forwards who used their size and strength to consistently carve out space and succeed. Malone was the height of a more traditional power forward; few people are going to try to concede that Zion is average height for an NBA four.
BTW, neat thing about the basketball-reference website ... you actually can see how the two players performed against each other ... https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/tiny.fcgi?id=c8njD
This kid hasn't play a minute in the NBA. Yes the hype is there but we will see if he can get his shot off in the middle against longer and as strong of players. I am not say he not good he was in college but my biggest concern for this kid can he stay healthy enough to live up the hype due to his weight.
It'll be interesting to see what Zion officially measures in at. Last I could find, he measured at 6-5, although Duke lists him at 6-7. https://247sports.com/Bolt/Zion-Williamson-puts-up-eye-popping-measurements-108682175/
That's what I was getting at. There are discrepancies in the listings, but Zion basically splits the difference between the two, both in terms of height and physical impact. That's not to say he'll be good as either -- I've got my reservations -- but it came up because I don't see the Barkley comparison being all that strong.
