Hornets Unwilling To Deal Paul, West

Via Times-Picayune

Jeff Bower, general manager/head coach of the Hornets, did not deny that teams have called expressing interest in trading for Chris Paul or David West. One reported deal this week had the San Antonio Spurs willing to exchange point guard Tony Parker for Paul.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have expressed interest in West since November.

Since last season, the Dallas Mavericks have expressed interest in obtaining Paul and taking on the remainder of Peja Stojakovic’s hefty contract to make the deal more attractive for the Hornets.

But Bower said the Hornets have no intentions of trading away any members of their core to get under the luxury-tax threshold.

“The foundation of our plan has always been to maintain our core group of players and to look at ways that wouldn’t affect our overall basketball team on the court,” Bower said.

The Hornets are very close to being save from the luxury tax.