I think we can safely say now that Emeka Okafor and Nene are very solid big men. Then comes the big "but" that we hear every day: They are too old. They are on the downward arc of their careers.

First, let's look at their ages. Nene and Emeka are both 30 years old. They are not the same age as John Wall or Bradley Beal, but do they need to be? I would argue they do not.

How old can power forwards and centers play to in the NBA? Here's a list from Wikipedia

Kevin WIllis, 44

The Chief, Robert Parrish, 43

Dikembe Mutombo and Kareem, 42

Karl Malone, Cliff Robinson, Kurt Thomas, 40

The "old" guys still contributing? Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Antawn Jamison are all 35 and 36 years old.

So I think that five years for Mek and Nene is just fine if they can keep doing what they are doing. They are not high flyers. In fact, neither of them can really jump or is particularly fast. They are just big, strong and fundamentally sound. Isn't five years plenty of time to develop young understudies like Seraphin and this year's draft pick, or a young star we trade for?

What about production? Mek just got his tenth double double of the season. That is not too shabby. He is averaging 8 rebounds and 8 points this year, which is of course down from his first five years in the league when he averaged as much as 11 rebounds and 15 points in his rookie year. He had 16 points and 15 rebounds against Chicago the other night.

Nene of course has missed significant time due to injury, but hey, players get hurt. By the way, he is listed on NBA.com as just "Nene." He is right around his career average of 12 points and 7 rebounds. His best game was against Portland, with 24 points and 9 rebounds. Both of these guys are good passers.

So what's not to like???