well, the smart move for him would be new york... the knicks need, him, the knicks want him and the knicks have eddy currys expiring $13M contract to trade, which they wanna get rid of and use as a bargaining chip
from the hornets perspective, they realistically arent gonna win a championship anytime soon unless a miracle happens and paul knows this - it is understandable that he wants to be traded, not that I necessarily agree with it or want it to happen as a hornets supporter... i still believe these superstars like paul, need to make every effort to win a title off their own back
negative for hornets is this... in a small market like theyre in, winning and positivity are essential to the success of basketball in new orleans, hence, if they were to lose paul it would seriously set them back in the immediate/short term as he is the heart and soul and the face of the franchise... couple that with the fact that they are paying guys like peja ($15M - final year of contract) and okafor ($12M - still has a few years to go) some massive money, they are not allowing themselves the chance to go out and secure other quality free agents to make the team better.
however, if the hornets were to move paul on, the positives for them would be this... they have a second year pg darren collison that could fill the void quite well as he proved last year when given the opportunity - not the same shooter or defender that paul is but would be good for around 15ppg and 8apg i reckon if he had the reigns. the other guy is the x factor who i believe has a chance to become a major star in the league, and thats marcus thornton... he can flat out score. very strong, quick, explosive, loves taking it to the hoop and can stroke the 3 ball really well... he could be a consistent 20-23ppg scorer in the nba... check him out:
they would then need to either start shopping pejas expiring contract and maybe package him up with okafor or even posey to bring in some youth and get the payroll down a little.... gotta keep dwest around though, hes real solid
hurts me to say but if the hornets stay as they are, theyre not really gonna be going anywhere soon... so wholesale changes are needed to make this team competitive again