Hornets general manager Jeff Bower believes that the team has improved this offseason.

"Yes," Bower told the Times-Picayune when asked if the Hornets are better. "I feel real good about that. I think we've added some depth and quickness to our backcourt, I think we've added two players to our front line (center Emeka Okafor and power forward Ike Diogu) that give us a different element from a physical standpoint and from a point-scoring standpoint.

"I think our returning players are coming back with a mentality that's hungry and want to accomplish a lot and have taken the steps this summer to allow them to do that. And that's a big thing for us. The progress that we've made over the summer with our roster, as far as changes, is one thing. But I think the improvement in our current players is something that we're going to see a big impact from, as well."

The Hornets have re-signed Sean Marks.

His deal is believed to be for one season at the veteran minimum, which last season was about $1.045 million.

That figure has increased slightly since last season.

Chris Paul shared a unique relationship with former teammate Rasual Butler.

The Hornets dealt Butler to the Clippers earlier this month.

"Oh, man, to tell you the truth, that hurt me," Paul told the Times-Picayune of the trade. "Rasual is my guy, somebody I'm really close to. Him and David West were the only two guys who've been on my team every year since I've been a rookie. But that kind of caught me off guard and hit close to home. He was my guy."

Regardless, Paul is looking forward to the upcoming season.

"It can't come soon enough, to tell you the truth," Paul added. "When you lose that last game, this is what you prepare for. One of my favorite quotes is about, 'You can never go somewhere you've never been without doing something you've never done.'

"What I've been doing the past four years hasn't been working, so that means I've got to work a little bit harder."

Hornets owner George Shinn said Monday that the team will not cut corners as they aim to win a championship.

He used the acquisition of Emeka Okafor from the Bobcats as an example that the club isn't afraid to take on more salary.

New Orleans will save some money this year after landing Okafor for Tyson Chandler, but Okafor's contract runs much longer than that of Chandler.

"I think the moves we've made are very good," Shinn told the Times-Picayune on Monday. "I loved Tyson Chandler and his wife. But we have to make business decisions. And I just felt when the opportunity came for us to make the trade with Charlotte, that it made sense for us.

"I think in some way, it helped them. I think it helps us. We've got a guy who can score, a guy who can rebound and run, and he's never had the privilege of playing with a superstar like Chris Paul who'll make him better. The goal is to get better. I hope people will quit (grumbling) that we're cheap. The goal is to use good judgment in the business. Obviously, we'd like to be below the luxury tax. But we made the comment before if we can get below it and get better, that would be great. But if you can't, you don't shoot yourself in the foot and make yourself worse to get under the luxury cap.

"We've been committed all along to get better and we won't change that. We'll do everything we can to become a better basketball team because we want to get better every year."

Julian Wright could see more minutes with the Hornets in the wake of the Rasual Butler trade.

However, he admitted that he was skeptical of the deal at first.

"We just traded away a starter for a second-round draft choice," Wright told the Times-Picayune.

Soon after he realized that the deal might allow him more time on the court.

"When I got deeper into it, the next thing to think about was that more minutes would open up at the wing, and that it was an opportunity," said Wright. "It would be in my best interest to continue to work hard and maybe gain some of those minutes that Rasual averaged last year.

"So that's what I looked at. It's a business. This team, the front office is trying to re-mold this team into a way that we can compete this year. Every year it changes, even it's the same 14 in the locker room. It's a new year. That's what I thought about, and just trying to look forward to trying to take more of a responsibility and fill a void."

The Tyson Chandler for Emeka Okafor swap was one of the more surprising trades of the summer.

"He just hasn?t added up to the devastating package we thought he might be," said one executive of Okafor, citing his lack of development since being the 2nd overall player selected in the 2004 draft.

In an interview on Thursday, Chris Paul responded to the notion the Hornets were a relative disappointment during the 08-09 season.

"I think we all need to get a little bit more killer [instinct] in us," said Paul.  "We have to want it more. That's something that we'll talk about in training camp. Everybody has to know it doesn't start when the playoffs start; it starts from Day One -- that's when we have to build our identity. Coach [Byron] Scott always says if everybody comes back 1 percent better, that will make our team better. So I'll try to do my part and come back better than I was last year."

The Hornets have traded Rasual Butler to the Clippers in exchange for a future second-round pick, according to sources.

The trade is expected to be officially announced on Wednesday afternoon.

Butler will earn $3.9 million in 2009-10, and the move will allow New Orleans to save close to $8 million when luxury tax implications are taken into account.

Chris Paul spent part of this week in China serving as a basketball instructor at a youth camp and launching a Chinese version of his shoe.

"The best thing about the whole situation was the fact that, with basketball, there's no language barrier," Paul told the Associated Press.

It was Paul's first trip back to China since the United States won the gold medal at the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008.

"We had an opportunity to play with some of the kids and really show them some of the things that I do when I play, so that was a lot of fun to see the smiles on their faces and know they were enjoying it as much as I did," Paul added. "The kids worked really, really hard and I think that was the biggest thing that impressed me ? and I think a couple of the kids' athleticism really shocked me, too."

The New Orleans Hornets announced that New Orleans native Robert Pack has been named an assistant coach for the 2009-10 season.

Pack, 40, joins Byron Scott?s staff after a one-year assistant coach stint with the NBA Developmental League?s Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The Vipers finished 21-29 last season.

?I?m thrilled to have the opportunity to coach in the NBA,? Pack said. ?It?s always been my dream and to have the chance to do so in my hometown is something I?m really grateful for. I?m really excited for the season to start and I just have to thank Coach Scott for such a great opportunity.?