Виктор Вембаньяма NBA-ийн шилдэг төвийн тоглогчдын жагсаалтыг тэргүүллээ

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Why did James Harden decline his $42 million player option before free agency? Because it landed him an extra $55 million in guaranteed money. He has agreed to a three-year, $97 million deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He turns 37 next week. This pushes his career earnings to $510 million. Not bad!

Position rankings

Wemby leads The Bounce’s top-40 big men

Is there a better time to start ranking positions in the NBA than in the second half of August? There isn’t.

We debuted the Bounce Rankings last year, and it was a resounding success. Nobody pushed back on the rankings even a little bit. Please, do not go look at the comments or replies. Let’s live in the present.

We’ll break down the positional rankings over the next five editions of The Bounce, with lead guards, shooting guards, wings, forwards and today’s group, big men. How have things changed since last year? Are there any big leaps or falls? Do I still have that pro Canva account to make charts? All these questions will be answered.

The rankings are created by the most sophisticated supercomputers in the world. They’re definitely not me just using an Excel spreadsheet to organize names. We break each position into seven tiers, from the elite of the elite to just rounding out the top 40.

Let’s rank the big men!

Is it possible Jokić will make me look foolish by putting Wembanyama above him? Absolutely. But Wemby is the best defender in the NBA, and he’s one of the best offensive players. He gets the honor for now.

• Towns deserves plenty of recognition for his championship run. His play in the postseason unlocked another level, and he defended the way he needed to.
• I’m curious what Embiid will look like in this new role and dynamic in Philly.
• Davis is probably too low, but he actually needs to play and re-establish himself.
• I’m interested to see if Holmgren and Şengün can overcome their playoff struggles and come back with a vengeance.

Let’s move to the next two tiers!

There were a couple of times I had Mobley into the top 10. Duren too. But their shortcomings in the postseason were too much to feel 100 percent about keeping them that high. Sabonis was probably a little overrated a year ago, as well.

• I’m giving Kessler the big benefit of the doubt here. It’s possible I overrated him, but he is a tremendous rebounder and presence around the rim on both ends.
• Some people may bristle at Reid being this high, but he’s going to light up opposing teams as a main big man in Charlotte.

Let’s go to the final two tiers as we round out the top 40!

If I had to bet on one big man from these two tiers making it look ridiculous that he didn’t make the top 20, it would be Ware. I’m a big fan of Ware and think he has the chance to really shine under Taylor Jenkins in Milwaukee. I have no idea what to make of Vučević and his upcoming role back in Orlando. It’s a crowded frontcourt, and maybe he shouldn’t have made the top 40.

• Sarr has a chance to make a big leap too. He was a lot better in Year 2.
• Queen will probably need to establish himself as a full-time, small-ball big. But Missi is going to make that tough in New Orleans.
• The big man I will most likely regret not having in the top 40 is Andre Drummond. Joan Beringer will be a close second in that category.

Players dropped from the last year’s top 40: Yang Hansen (25th), Brook Lopez (31st), Drummond (34th), Kevon Looney (39th).

The last 24

✏️ Trade grades! The Cavs are acquiring Peyton Watson in a sign-and-trade. Will this lead to DeMar DeRozan in Denver?

💰 Restricted stalemate. Jalen Duren and the Pistons still don’t have an agreement. What should we expect to happen?

🏀 Dunks for the memories. Do you like the slam-dunk contest? Shaq and Vince Carter are starting a competitive dunk league, which will hold its first championship next week.

Not Bussin’

Family drama at center of Lakers sale

The Lakers are a mess. And it has nothing to do with basketball. Mark Walter is abruptly selling the franchise for $12.5 billion purchasing the team for $10 billion in June 2025.

Is he selling because his businesses are under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission? We’re not sure yet! Meanwhile, that’s not even the latest Lakers ownership drama. The remaining 17.8 percent of the franchise owned by the Buss family is now up for sale, unless you ask Jeanie Buss. She and her lawyer are fighting the sale.

So what’s going on with the Lakers ownership? It’s time to talk to myself in a little Q&A to figure it out.

So the Lakers are being sold by Walter to the Bob Iger/Joshua Kushner group? They sure are. The NBA will have to vet/approve them, but considering Iger worked with the league for so long when he ran Disney (which owns ESPN), I’m guessing Adam Silver feels pretty comfortable with this sale. Also, the $12.5 billion valuation and increasing the Lakers’ value by $2.5 billion in a little over a year is good for business. Especially when you’re trying to convince bidding groups to spend between $7 billion and $10 billion for an expansion team in Seattle or Las Vegas.

And the Buss family is selling as well? Possibly! Five Buss siblings announced that the Buss Family Trust would sell their remaining stake, saying “… it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.” That graceful exit isn’t happening. Jeanie Buss doesn’t want to sell.

Do the Buss children need Jeanie to sign off on this? That’s the legal question at hand. Jeanie and her lawyer claimed this is a “breach of trust.” The letter sent by Jeanie’s lawyer to the other five siblings (Johnny, Jimmy, Janie, Joey and Jesse) also said they would be in contempt of court if this sale goes forward. That could just be a lawyerly threat, or it could be real. Jeanie and her lawyer believe a 2017 court order keeps them from overruling her.

Can’t Jeanie just remain the governor without the ownership stake? She cannot. She must maintain at least 15 percent ownership to be the team governor under NBA rules. She will explore doing just that. However, we’re looking at about $1.8 billion for 15 percent of this team at the $12.5 billion valuation.

What’s the one Buss family drama that keeps coming up when talking about this? Oh, you know … just that time that apparently Jeanie told her half-brother Jesse that he “should’ve never been born.”

What do we think happens here? My guess is the legal battle does not prevent the Buss Family Trust from selling. And then Jeanie is out as governor. This won’t affect the sale to Iger and Kushner.

Poster child

Two iconic players — and images

Every Friday, we’re having you, The Bouncers, vote on nostalgic basketball posters from the ’80s. We’ve seen Chuck Person’s “The Rifleman” beat out Dale Ellis’ “The Silent Assassin” in a vote. We had Moses Malone edge out Karl Malone. And this past week saw George Gervin’s “Iceman” poster run away with 82 percent of the vote over Darrell Griffith’s “Dr. Dunkenstein.”

Today? We have the frame-by-frame poster of a Michael Jordan dunk versus Larry Bird sitting on a bird’s nest on a backboard. This will be one of the toughest voting decisions you’ve ever had to make.

What’s the better poster here? Sound off in the comments!