BIEDRINS: WARRIORS TO BE FUN

Center Andris Biedrins joked that he'll use the hefty new contract he signed with the Warriors on Sunday to buy a car and more hair gel, but his first dozen purchases were quite a bit more admirable.

Biedrins, known for his spiked blond hair, took 12 children from an after-summer-school program in Walnut Creek out for pizza and bought them tickets to the Disney movie "WALL-E" on Thursday.

After serving the children popcorn and sodas, Biedrins held court with members of the local media for the first time since signing a six-year, 54ドル million deal. The contract can jump to as much as 62ドル million if a number of incentives kick in, and Biedrins has a player option after the fifth year of the contract.

Warriors vice president Chris Mullin says the team is always exploring options to improve, but the Biedrins signing might have been the final move of a frenetic offseason.

Golden State lost Baron Davis to the Clippers and offered huge contracts that Elton Brand and Gilbert Arenas shunned. The Warriors signed Corey Maggette and Ronny Turiaf, traded for Marcus Williams and matched the Clippers' offer sheet to Kelenna Azubuike.

Finally, they got around to re-signing Monta Ellis and Biedrins as the cornerstones of the franchise.

"We've had a lot of changes, but I think the new team will be a lot of fun," Biedrins said. "We have so much talent, and everybody is so young."

The Warriors have eight players on their roster who are 22 or younger, including their last two first-round draft picks, Anthony Randolph (19) and Brandan Wright (20). Though he's only 22, Biedrins said he's a leader.

"With the contract comes bigger responsibilities, and you are expected to do more," Biedrins said. "I'm ready for that."

The Warriors said all along that Ellis and Biedrins would be re-signed, but there were some anxious hours for Biedrins.

"I knew we had a really great relationship with the Warriors, so I thought, sooner or later, we would get the deal done," Biedrins said. "Of course, there was a little bit of stress, because other guys were signing and I still didn't have a contract."

There were rumblings that Biedrins was considering offers from overseas.

"I told my agent that I wanted to see all of the opportunities, but my first priority was the Warriors," Biedrins said. Coach Don Nelson "makes it so much fun to play basketball, and the Warriors have really taken care of me for the last four years."

Now, it's time for Biedrins to return the favor.

Biedrins, a 6-foot-11, 230-pounder, is the present and future man in the middle for the Warriors. He's shown marked improvement in each of his four NBA seasons, and he doesn't see that changing.

Last year, he bumped his scoring and rebounding average to 10.5 points and 9.8 boards a game. He shot 62.6 percent from the floor to become the Warriors' all-time leader in career field-goal percentage (61.4).

Biedrins said the next step is to continue to expand his offensive game. That has been his focus this offseason, and he'll continue to work as he joins the Latvia national team for a EuroBasket 2009 qualifying game next week.

"I'm trying a lot of new things," Biedrins said. "I'm trying to get a little jump shot and more and more offensive moves."