The Warriors have a chiseled 7-foot, 255-pound center in their training camp, a big man who moves well, plays a physical style and alters opponents' shots in the paint.

Get this: It's Andris Biedrins.

It hasn't stopped them from looking for another one, but the Warriors seem convinced they once again have a legitimate center option in the maligned Biedrins.

"Dre looks awesome. You can see in his face that he's checked in," point guard Stephen Curry said. "He's huge for us. Any team needs an anchor and to have a backup wall that can step up and change shots.

"Dre is back."

The Warriors chased top free-agent center Tyson Chandler, who signed with the Knicks. They've turned their attention to the Clippers' DeAndre Jordan, a 6-11, 265-pound 23-year-old whom they expect to sign to an offer sheet today for four years, $40 million.

The Warriors can clear enough salary cap space to overpay Jordan and still keep Biedrins. The Clippers, who will have three days to match the offer, have been expected to match offers in the $8 million per year range.

Since the fallback free-agent options are uninspiring names like Kwame Brown and Joel Przybilla, the Warriors know the importance of Biedrins making a complete comeback. After improving his scoring and rebound numbers each of his first five seasons to a double-double average in 2008-09, Biedrins has fallen apart the past two years.

The 25-year-old's confidence has crumbled as his 25 percent free-throw shooting has seemed to poison the rest of his game. He's been in and out of the lineup with a series of injuries and ineffective play.

"I did have confidence issues. There's no doubt about it," Biedrins said. "A couple of injuries set me back, and I wasn't so sure about myself. From there, it was just downhill."

Biedrins spent half of the offseason in Latvia and the other half in Santa Barbara working on his game, his body and his mind. The Warriors and BDA Sports Management developed a complete reclamation regimen that Biedrins followed without hesitation.

The result is 15 pounds of muscle, clear eyes and a strong will. The Warriors have been in on seemingly every trade possibility or free-agent option at center, a fact that seems to re-energize Biedrins' motor even more.

"It makes you a little bit stronger," he said. "You hear those names and you say, 'No. No. I'm better than him.' Now is my chance.

"The past two years have been horrible for me. I know that. Everybody knows that. Now is the time to prove that I'm back."

Mark Jackson said Biedrins will have a chance to prove exactly that. The new coach met with the lone center on his current roster before and after Friday's training camp opener to assure him of a clean slate.

Jackson told Biedrins that he needed to get back to doing the things that secured his spot in the league, going after every rebound and protecting the rim behind the Warriors' defensively deficient guards.

Asked if Biedrins is definitely the team's center, Jackson said, "He's definitely a center on this basketball team, and I'm excited about the opportunity to coach him. Watching him, you can see flashes of what made him a special player. He has great size and length, and he has the ability to alter shots, rebound and finish at the rim. He does a lot of things that show he's a starting center in this league. ... He's going to have every opportunity to get back what he once had. I believe in him, and he could be the anchor of our defense."

Just as happened with Monta Ellis and Dorell Wright, Biedrins' teammates see a new maturity in the center that comes with being a parent. He and his fiancee had their first son in April.

"I really don't know what it was the past few years, but this year, there's a new Andris," Ellis said. "Having a family really changed him. He looks and feels like the old Andris. Time will tell. I hope everything that we take from training camp's first days carries on."

Wright said: "It makes you that much hungrier, because you've got a family to support. With YouTube, those kids can go back and see what you did. You don't want to let them see you slacking."