David West expressed sympathy for the situation Hornets' GM Dell Demps and head coach Monty Williams find themselves in with the Chris Paul situation.

"There just really is no direction with no legitimate owner, so that just makes it tough," West told the Associated Press on Monday. "It really made it tough for me to see myself going back there."

West believes that  "a series of events that transpired after (they were one game from the Western Conference finals) that sent Chris and myself into a different mindset in terms of what we really could get in New Orleans."

West says the Hornets "gave a cold shoulder" to Jannero Pargo, who had been the best friend of Paul on the team.

"And (they) didn't consult Chris about anything," West said, referring to former GM Jeff Bower.

Paul wasn't consulted on the two trades of Tyson Chandler, one that was rescinded by the Thunder and a second that sent him to Charlotte for Emeka Okafor.

"It's nothing against Emeka, but from our perspective, being teammates with Tyson and knowing the type of impact he had on both of our careers at that particular time, I just felt like at that moment, things, in terms of the trust, the direction we were going, started to wane a bit," West said. "When you have a franchise guy like Chris, build a team around him, I'm under the impression that you've got to keep your franchise guy happy."

When Demps and Williams were hired, West and Paul were constantly consulted. But by that point, it was difficult to envision a long-term future with the franchise due to the absence of an owner.

"Ultimately, I think (Demps and Williams) got the bad luck of the draw because things were already sort of soured," West said of his and Paul's feelings before last season. "And it was just that idea of trying to build a relationship of trust in such a short period of time."