Last summer Emeka Okafor chose not to agree to a long-term extension with the Charlotte Bobcats. The Cats offered very good money, but not max; Okafor and his representation were convinced he was worth the max.

When negotiations broke down both sides went out of their way to tell the public it wasn't a negative, it just wasn't ready to happen. The Cats even issued a press release explaining their side, something very rarely done – teams are much more likely to act like nothing is amiss.

When the season started Okafor started slowly and those voices who claimed he overvalued himself and should have taken the money got louder. The claim was Okafor is as good as he is going to get, so if he didn't take that money now he might never see it. Yes, there were other things said in the same vein not nearly as nice, but the point was the same: Mek should have signed on the dotted line and taken the money.

But after a slow start Okafor seems to have righted his ship. The Charlotte Bobcats seem no closer to the playoffs then ever, especially in the midst of a five-game losing streak and losers of eight out of the last ten. But Okafor, on the other hand, has showed much greater consistency of late.

He has scored in double figures the last 12 games, and nine of the last ten have produced double-doubles in scoring and rebounds (the one that did not featured nine rebounds and a season-high four assists).

In fact, one might make the argument Okafor is one of the top power forwards in the game. What? He's a center? Sort of. Primoz Brezec was supposed to be, but he contributed almost nothing to Sam Vincent's offense and was sent to Detroit with Walter Herrmann for Nazr Mohammed. Okafor was moved to center and struggled with the change a bit, even though he has played that position much of his career. With Mohammed getting bigger minutes in the middle, Okafor seems to have settled back into a normalcy.

Why is that? Simple – Emeka Okafor is not a center. Never has been, never will be. He fits a team much better as a power forward who can do a little scoring, dominate the glass, and play great help defense. Mohammed has now been moved into the starting lineup at the five, allowing Mek to go back to the four.

When compared against power forwards, Okafor's 10.9 rebounds a night are second only to Tim Duncan's 11.3 and seventh overall. Of course, you could make the same case about some of the players in front of him not being real centers, just being forced to play there, players like Minnesota's Al Jefferson, Orlando's Dwight Howard, and Denver's Marcus Camby (none of which came into the NBA as centers).

Okafor also is fourth among forwards and tied with Jason Kidd for 11th overall in double-doubles this season with 27.

Every player ahead of him on that list has signed a big long-term contract, except for Chris Paul – whose megadeal will probably come this summer. The players after Okafor on the list – Zach Randolph, Tyson Chandler, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Shawn Marion – also have signed huge contracts.

So can you really blame Emeka Okafor for not signing the deal, when he hadn't gotten a chance to gauge his true market value? Perhaps he will find there isn't more than what Charlotte offered out there, but there assuredly will not be less.

In fact, Okafor could be a prime candidate for a sign-and-trade scenario. Sean May will be back next year and if the Cats want to bank on him staying healthy – something he hasn't been able to do since being drafted – he could fill Okafor's spot in the lineup. Quite a few teams would love to have a rebounder and defender who can score like Okafor on their team, especially considering he is also a quiet guy who works hard.

Think about this: how would Okafor look in Memphis blue? The Grizz will have some money to spend when Kwame Brown leaves and replacing him with Okafor in the Memphis lineup, with Darko Milicic on one side and Rudy Gay on the other, plus Mike Conley running the point and another high draft pick who could be a fantastic shooting guard…the Grizzlies could become another playoff contender very fast.

The Miami Heat, should Shawn Marion opt out of his contract, would be an excellent fit. They could even offer up Udonis Haslem as a replacement, if Haslem hasn't been traded before then. In Miami he could play the four with the offensive-minded Mark Blount at the five and that wouldn't be a bad lineup at all, especially when paired with Dwyane Wade and a high lottery pick who could be Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose. Or maybe Marion ends up going to Charlotte, with a contract extension – imagine him in the same lineup as Gerald Wallace, Jason Richardson and Ray Felton?

The Bobcats will have the right of first refusal since Okafor will be a restricted free agent, but rarely does it play out where the player stays if he thinks there is a better place for him somewhere else.

Not saying it will happen that way, but this is saying there will be money and options out there for Okafor to ponder this summer, a lot of both  – and it doesn't necessarily have to be with Charlotte.