The Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.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 rankingsWemby leads The Bounce’s top-40 big menIs 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.