Paul Says West’s Plans May Not Affect His Future

Chris Paul spoke to the media yesterday at one of his carity events in New Orleans. When asked about David West's decision to opt out, and how that might affect his Hornets future, Paul said, "I don't know. Hopefully it won't."

"His decision was he just opted out. It doesn't mean he's not coming back to our team," explained CP3.

When asked a follow-up question about West's chance of returning to play for the only NBA team he has ever known, Paul responded, "We haven’t talked too much about it. At the end of the day, it’s not about what I want for him. He has a family. He has kids and stuff like that. Whatever is in the best interest of him, I’m sure he’ll make the best decision.”

Paul has always made it clear that his number one goal is winning. With that thought in mind, how does Chris feel about the Hornets chance of success next season?

"We've got to get some guys first. Right now we've only got five guys under contract. Everybody knows my heart is in New Orleans," explained Paul.  "I want to win. I want to win now. And I'm sure we're going to continue to go in that direction."

Yesterday the Hornets picked up the option of starting shooting guard Marco Belinelli, giving New Orleans 6 players currently under contract with the team for the 2011-2012 season.