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Well Fourth of July weekend is officially over, and with it, we need to retire ALL clothing made out of the American flag. That is not a good look, never was. I appreciate the patriotism, however the American flag dress-shirt, equipped with cowboy hat is horrendous looking and this must be stopped. Whew! Glad I got that off my chest! Moving on....what a busy week it's been in the NBA!

Last week's NBA Draft didn't go EXACTLY how I predicted it, but I wasn't that far off on some things, especially predicting that the Toronto Raptors would run out of time and miss their pick. They'll look back one day, maybe even today, and wish they never took Charlie Villanueva at seven, instead opting to let the clock run out. Last year they took Rafael Araujo at eight, and he rewarded them with a robust three points and three rebounds per contest. For Heaven's sake, even Eric Montross averaged 10 and seven his rookie year (look it up for yourselves, I couldn't believe it either).

I liken Raptor GM Rob Babcock to Orlando Magic PR mogul George Galante. Every year at the end of our fantasy basketball draft, George will look back over his eight selections, and three hours of work and utter the following: "Boy, do I hate my team!" I can only imagine Mr. Babcock has said the exact same thing the past two years, and he'll get another chance next season when the heap of garbage he's assembled lands him the third overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. City of Toronto, prepare yourself now for Pops Mensah-Bonsu out of George Washington. Rob was in Minnesota when the T-Wolves were stripped of their draft picks for interfering with Joe Smith, and if he's not careful, Commissioner Stern will again strip Babcock's club, but this time for incompetence.

There are plenty of other questions I have about the draft.....

For example, who is Fran Vazquez? I know he was the Magic's 11th pick, he is almost 7 feet and his little highlight package ESPN put together wasn't overly impressive. Luckily for the Magic, we have scouts overseas that saw a lot more of him in action than we did. Also, if you'll remember way back, many mock drafts had him going as high as sixth, so obviously there is something attractive about his game. Can I sit here and tell you anything positive about this guy? No...I haven't seen him play, but I can certainly discredit all those who have already decided he WON"T be good. Let's remember back to last year's draft, when the Dave Twardzik, Otis Smith regime took a chance on Dwight Howard number one overall (most teams would have taken Okafor), traded for Jameer Nelson, another outstanding move and also drafted Anderson Varejao......who we never got to see because he was included in a package deal to Cleveland, thus ridding the Magic of the very energy player they so desperately needed. Point being, the Magic GMs have beed dead on to this point, so I have no reason to think otherwise about Fran Vazquez..........just sure would be a lot easier for me to speak to him if he knew English.

What was wrong with Commissioner Stern? He is hands down the greatest Commissioner in sports today, but let's be honest, what on Earth was wrong with him that night? He said "in the two thousand and FOUR NBA Draft, the New Orleans Hornets select Chris Paul". He had a long dramatic pause before announcing Deron Williams, probably to make sure he didn't say De-RON like Greg Anthony did all day. He was nowhere to be found when they went to the podium for the Orlando Magic's pick, sending all of Central Florida into a frenzy thinking he was getting the last details of a trade. Then there was my personal favorite, when he gave Rashad McCants the cold shoulder. This is the greatest moment in your life, walking across the stage to shake hands with the Commish and instead, his head is turned listening to the ESPN Broadcast. The same Broadcast in which Mike Tirico reported, "with the selection of Deron Williams, there are now 10 Williams' in the league". Thank you for that Mike, and thank YOU Commissioner Stern for keeping us all on our toes.

What the hell is this?	And would it work for me?

Remember the names Channing Frye, Ike Diogu and Yaroslav Korolev, because this is the last time you'll ever hear those names again. Also remember the GM's that drafted them: Moe, Larry and Curly. All three teams, the Knicks, Warriors and Clippers passing on Sean May to draft three largely unproven players. I don't care what everyone is saying about May, they're all the same things they were saying about Boozer. I don't know why HE slipped coming out of Duke and I don't understand why May was passed on coming off a National Championship at UNC. CERTAINLY not for Korolev who averaged 16 points per game in the Russian JUNIOR League. May averaged 18 points per game for the NATIONAL CHAMPION TAR HEELS. I'm right angry over this.

Guys like Matt Walsh, Randolph Morris, and Anthony Roberson who all left school early to go pro and wound up undrafted. When you declare for the NBA Draft, and Axel Hervelle is selected (who will play exactly ZERO NBA games.....EVER) .....and you're NOT, you will be invited to the Annual "Dumb-off Classic" held every year at Rucker Park and hosted by Omar Cook.

Lastly, Free Agency is upon us and Ray Allen has grabbed the first major headline by deciding to re-sign with the Seattle Supersonics for $80 million over five years. Now... before we run around calling Ray Allen a saint for staying with the same team and deciding Seattle is where his home was the whole time, I want you to remember this: $80 million for five years. Now me personally, I'd man a canoe through Alaska on Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch" for $80 million, but it's probably different for Ray Allen, so let's look at his potential suitors: The Cleveland Cavaliers, sure, he could go to a contender and play alongside LeBron James but he'd have to LIVE there, so that's out. Next, you have the L.A. Clippers, need I say more? If the Clippers ever make the playoffs again, it will be by mistake, because they signed someone like Bobby Simmons to the league minimum, he played out of his you know what, and led them to the postseason. So there's no WAY Ray Allen would go there at this stage of his career. Lastly, the Atlanta Hawks made an offer. Which is kinda cute, it's like when a five-year-old asks his teacher to marry him, they're sincere but it's just not reasonable. All that being said, Ray Allen is one of the true class acts in this league and after his success last season he absolutely deserves to be rewarded the way he was.

Dante welcomes your comments, questions and alternative opinions. E-mail him here.

Dante’s Speak is solely the opinion of Dante Marchitelli and does not reflect the views of the Orlando Magic or the NBA. Marchitelli has served as radio producer in the Orlando Magic's Broadcast department for seven seasons.