WESTWEGO, Louisiana — The writing was on the wall, or maybe off of it, when the New Orleans Hornets removed an expansive image of All-Star guard Chris Paul from the outside of the New Orleans Arena well before training camp had begun.

Now general manager Dell Demps and coach Monty Williams have a better picture of some of the new faces that might grace that wall one day, and they can move on with their plans for the Hornets without the drag that a disgruntled superstar can cause.

“Now is the next step,” Demps said Thursday, a day after Paul was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. “I don’t know if it’s relief. We’re glad to get that process over. And we’ve got some other things we need to do to get our roster ready.”

The trade brought the Hornets a prolific young shooting guard in Eric Gordon, a 7-foot former All-Star center in Chris Kaman and a second-year forward with potential in Al-Farouq Aminu. The Hornets also got a first-round draft choice that the Clippers had previously acquired from Minnesota.

With that deal done, progress quickly ensued on the free-agent front with the re-acquisition of power forward Carl Landry, who averaged 11.8 points with the Hornets last season. He came in as a backup to David West and moved into a starting role after West was injured.

“He understands the system. He really thrived later in the season after the injury to David West,” Demps said of Landry, who agreed to a one-year, $8.8 million deal. “He had some big-time moments for us in the playoffs last year. We want to grow on that. … He fits our system and we’re excited about the agreement.”

Williams expressed mix feelings about Paul’s departure.

The Hornets made it clear they would have preferred to build around Paul, had the star guard been inclined to sign an extension. But when Paul would not commit to that, Demps and Williams knew they needed to start seeing Paul as a means to trade for more of the players they needed to get closer to the vision they have of a hustling, scrappy, defense-first team.

“When you can bring closure to a situation and move on, you feel good about that,” Williams said. “At the same time, you don’t lose a player like Chris Paul and say, ‘Let’s move on.’ He certainly was a gift for me (last season) as a first-year coach to have somebody like that at my side.”

Williams said he also will miss forward David West, who opted for a free-agent deal with Indiana instead of coming back. Williams wished both of them would have remained.

“I inherited what most coaches would want to inherit,” Williams said, referring to Paul and West. “Yet, it takes a while to put your program in place, so we’re looking at starting over again, which is not something I had planned on or was looking forward to. But it’s what I have to do, so Dell is going to bring the pieces that he feels like fit our system and I have to trust him do that.”

Demps noted that Kaman, who is in the last year of his contract, will be “out to prove he can still play.”

Demps and Williams say they envision Kaman and center Emeka Okafor playing together at times, with Okafor, who has guarded the perimeter at times in the past, moving to power forward.

Williams said he looks forward to having a scorer like Gordon, who averaged 22 points last season.

“I’m always one to get guys on our team that I fear coaching against, and he’s one of those guys,” Williams said. “When he shoots it from range or is attacking the basket, you’re always on edge because you know you’re in trouble.”

Demps said he has spoken all three of the former Clippers who are on their way to the Big Easy, and all of them seemed happy about it.

“All three of them were excited. … They were ready to get here,” Demps said. “I didn’t have to sell anything. I was thinking that could be a possibility, but that was not the case.”

Last season: 46-36, tied with Memphis but on a tiebreaker drew the Lakers in the first round, which got them knocked out.

Head Coach: Monty Williams, entering just his second season at the head of an NBA team.

Key Departures: Chris Paul, who is now throwing lobs to Blake Griffin, and David West, who left via free agency for Indiana. For those scoring at home, that’s nearly 35 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists per game. Good luck replacing that.

Key Additions: Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman, plus Minnesota’s unprotected first round pick. Plus, they re-signed Carl Landry.

Best case scenario: The league finds an owner that wants to keep the Hornets in New Orleans.

As for on the court, in theory, with a starting lineup of Jarrett Jack, Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor (plus a few solid bench players) they could be a solid team in the West that could try and compete for the seven or eight seed….

But why?

More likely the Hornets will: Let’s be honest — with the Chris Paul trade the Hornets enter rebuilding mode. The Hornets can fight the good fight on the court and try to make the playoffs, but they are better off trying to flip Kaman’s contract (and Okafor’s, if they can find a taker) for young players and picks. This is a deep draft, they are better off to jump into rebuilding with both feet.

Prediction: 20-46. That gets them a lot of ping-pong balls in the lottery, which is what they should be after. A couple high picks to go with Eric Gordon and you start to build something for that the next owner.

New Orleans Hornets General Manager Dell Demps said trade talks has resumed involving Chris Paul and the completion of a deal is possible. He didn’t specify if discussions still involved the Lakers and Houston Rockets.

NBA Commissioner David Stern nixed Thursday’s  blockbuster three-team trade that had Paul going to the Lakers, while the Hornets would had received guards Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic, forwards Luis Scola and Lamar Odom and a first-round draft pick.

“Since that deal did not go through, we’re going to keep plugging away,” Demps said. “Everything is open and we’re trying to fill our roster. We’re doing everything we can to get a good team here; we only have six guys.”

Demps confirmed that Paul declined to sign a long-term extension earlier ths week, which prompted the franchise to begin serious trade discussions.

Paul is currently participating in the Hornets’ opening training camp practice at the Alario Center.