In today’s news out of Los Angeles, Lamar Odom is building quite the legal team to defend his DUI arrest from last week. Also, rumors out of Dallas suggest that the Mavericks explored the possibility of reacquiring J.J. Barea earlier in the summer.
Odom hires O.J. Simpson’s lawyer
TMZ.com reports that Lamar Odom has turned to O.J. Simpson’s lawyer, Robert Shapiro, to negotiate a plea deal for last week’s DUI arrest in Los Angeles.
Odom was arrested early Friday morning after driving in a “serpentine manner” on a Los Angeles highway. Police reports indicate Odom showed “objective signs of intoxication and was unable to perform field sobriety tests as explained and demonstrated.”
The arrest came just days after reports surfaced alleging that Odom has been addicted to crack cocaine, among other drugs, for about two years.
Shapiro is known for working out plea deals. It is expected that Odom will plead no contest to the DUI and have to serve probation.
Odom’s mother-in-law, Kris Jenner, has used Shapiro as her family’s lawyer in in the past and is believed to be the facilitator behind the scenes of this team up.
Dallas tried to trade for Barea earlier in the summer
After J.J. Barea helped guide the Maverick’s to the 2011 Championship, he left Dallas abruptly for a lucrative multiyear contract from the Minnesota Timberwolves. Still, Barea is beloved by Mavericks’ fans and is open to the possibility of reuniting with Mark Cuban in the future. 
According to Gonzalo Aguirregomezcorta of ESPN Deportes, the Mavericks explored the possibility of reacquiring Barea from Minnesota earlier in the summer.
“It’s a great relationship with Mark Cuban. If they want to bring me back to Dallas, I am very [good] with it,” Barea said. “But I’m happy in Minnesota. They’re the ones that wanted me there, the ones that signed me for four years, so until they decide to trade me, I’m going to give them all my effort in the games.”
Instead of trading for Barea, the Mavericks eventually wound up shelling out $54 million dollars combined to Jose Calderon and Monta Ellis.
Barea is looking forward to a new season in Minnesota. The 29-year-old believes this year’s Timberwolves team will be much improved from a season ago:
“We have a great team,” Barea said, citing Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love. “We also have Kevin Martin and new guys. Our problem is that we haven’t been able to maintain ourselves healthy. If we stay healthy, we see ourselves in the playoffs.”
With the Western Conference looking deeper than it has in years, the Timberwolves will need a career year from Barea to see themselves in the playoff mix.
whoah this weblog is fantastic i love studying your posts.
Staay up the great work! You understand, lots oof individuals are lookijng artound for thi info, you can aid them greatly.