Just got back from Target Center. they had a party for season ticket holders who had perfect attendance. Anyway, Hoiberg spoke and took a lot of good questions about the roster and draft. I tried my best to read between the lines, and here’s what I gathered… First (and most importantly) he emphasized that Taylor has offered GM candidates full control for personnel and coaching staff decisions. He wanted fans (and specifically, the blogosphere) to know that Taylor isn’t insisting anything related to he or McHale. How much truth there is to that, I haven’t any idea. With respect to the roster, he made clear that he knows they are small and unathletic. Everything that he said involved getting a shotblocker and getting a guy to break down the defense. The two names that he mentioned, without solicitation from a fan question, were Thabeet and DeRozan. When a fan specifically asked about Curry, he raved about how great of a shooter he was and how tough his dad (Curry’s dad) was to guard. However, everything Fred talked about was athleticism and the need for a perimeter slasher. Given his ties to Tim Floyd, I think that could easily mean DeRozan (if he falls to 6). He said it’s a very weak draft for centers and mentioned that, outside of Thabeet, Mullens is really the only guy. He talked about Mullens upside. I got the feeling that Fred probably understood the need for that type of a player, since he kept repeating the point that we need a "rim protector." When asked what happens to Love, he talked about a 3-big rotation, since they can’t play 48 minutes each. Fred spent some time talking about Pekovic. He said he’s the best center in Europe and we expect him no later than 2010. Also, he mentioned that Rubio has a $7 Million buyout, this year and that it’s far from certain that he’ll be in the NBA, next year. This contradicts Chad Ford’s reports, but Fred sounded pretty serious about this. Given that Memphis has the 2-spot, it might be a real issue heading forward to the draft. Anyway, it was a pretty good event. It was fun to hear Hoiberg talk somewhat candidly and extensively about this coming off-season.