The Hornets would receive either Luis Scola or Kevin Martin, and possibly both, as well as draft picks. Houston owns the New York Knicks' first-round pick from 2012, as well as its own.

The Rockets also have young assets to offer New Orleans in players like Chase Budinger, Patrick Patterson and Jordan Hill.

The Hornets would like to trade Paul, an All-Star and U.S. Olympian, before Christmas to avoid the lengthy drama that Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets went through before he was sent to the New York Knicks last season, sources have told ESPN.com. But the Hornets are also prepared to wait for offers to improve, convinced that they they're getting low-ball proposals from would-be suitors.

Sources previously told ESPN.com that the Lakers have made their willingness to deal forward Gasol for Paul clear to the Hornets, since L.A. is hoping to preserve Andrew Bynum to be the centerpiece of a trade offer for Orlando's Dwight Howard.

As the Knicks were closing in on a deal for Tyson Chandler of the Dallas Mavericks, sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein the Knicks were considering the possibility of sending Amare Stoudemire to the Hornets for Paul, reuiniting him with Chandler.

Chris Broussard is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Information from ESPN.com's Marc Stein was used in this report.