The nixed Chris Paul traded (twice now) is a fiasco:

There are suggestions that the league doesn't think it can get as much money in a sale of the Hornets if Paul is not on the team. But no owner who would buy the team is stupid enough not to know that Paul is gone at the end of the year, and any smart owner would want something to start rebuilding on in return. Like either of the Los Angeles deals. 

If there is no deal by the trade deadline for Paul, he will leave the Hornets next summer as a free agent and the team will get nothing. He has told them he will will not sign an extension to stay with the franchise. (That is not about the city of New Orleans, it's about the franchise and ownership.)