"In this league, you never know what's going to happen," Paul said Saturday morning outside the New Orleans Arena, where he and his family handed out hurricane preparedness kits as part of the CP3 Foundation. "It's a business. Contracts are up and different things like that.

"It's going to be interesting to see what happens. . . . We obviously didn't win a championship this year, so there may be some changes made. We know we've just got to get better."

Paul said he has spent plenty of time already this offseason talking with Coach Byron Scott and teammate James Posey on what direction the Hornets should go in after bowing out in the first round of the playoffs in April.

The goal for the team is to be playing this time next season, Paul said, but he couldn't come up with specific on-court solutions. Eventually, he pointed the finger at himself.

"I think (there's a need to improve) just all around," Paul said. "It was such an up-and-down season for us. A lot of people would say that just our bench needs to get better. We all have to get better as a collective unit. Definitely our bench has to get stronger. Our first unit, we get down in a lot of games early, so I say it starts with me."

Paul said the Hornets have a "great" starting five when he, David West, Rasual Butler, Peja Stojakovic and Tyson Chandler are on the floor together. Yet there has been plenty of trade chatter involving the Hornets since the season ended with Paul being the only Hornets player not on the market.

Scott said Thursday he didn't foresee the scenario of a Chandler trade occurring again, especially after the center's recent surgery on his left ankle and toe that could sideline him from two to four months.

Even West's name has surfaced in published reports about possibly becoming trade bait. Paul gave no credence to that scuttlebutt.

"(Paul would be) Very, very, very surprised if D. West was traded," Paul said. "I don't see that happening. That's my man."

While Paul didn't point to any one facet of the game the Hornets could looking to improve upon, he highlighted health and preparation as two starting points that could change the Hornets' fortunes going into the 2009-10 season.

"I think we all have just got to get better from me to D. West to Tyson and everybody," Paul said. "I think we just all need to get better. One thing (Scott) said when I talked to him a week ago, he said 'It starts now. We can't wait until training camp.' We need to start trying to figure out how we can get better. We've just got to be ready."

Paul attended the team's draft prospect workout Thursday with former North Carolina big man Tyler Hansbrough headlining the group. LSU guard Marcus Thornton also will work out for the Hornets this week, leading to to the question of what direction the Hornets should lean later this month with their No. 21 overall pick in the first round.

"That's a real good question, and if I knew, I could tell you," Paul said. ". . . There's a few things that could definitely make our team stronger. Hopefully we can find that player in the draft. It could be a big (man) so that we can have that depth when guys get in foul trouble, but we may be able to use another guard and another scorer."

Outside of Basketball, Paul has kept plenty busy.

He's taking summer classes at Wake Forest, saying "Hopefully, I can graduate one of these years."

There also has been an addition to the Paul family, as longtime girlfriend Jada gave birth to a boy May 24 named Christopher Emmanuel Paul II.

Paul called CP2 the most exciting thing to happen in his life and better than any achievement on the Basketball court or anywhere else.

When asked if he was catching any sleep, Paul replied, "None whatsoever."