Austin Hoping to Stay a While

Whether he winds up staying in Los Angeles or not, newly acquired Clipper center Isaac Austin knows one thing: He wants to stay someplace long enough to call it home.

The nomadic Austin played his high school ball in Oroville, Calif., at Las Plumas. He played junior college ball in Kings River, Calif., at Kings River College. He played at Arizona State. He played for the CBA in Oklahoma City. He played in France and Turkey.

And in the NBA, he has played for Utah, Philadelphia and Miami.

So, when Austin learned Thursday that he had been traded to the Clippers, he told his wife, Denise, the same thing he has been telling her through five and one-half years of marriage: “Pack the bags.”

But with free agency staring him in the face at season’s end, the 28-year-old Austin hopes to be able to finally change that message.

“It’s time to start focusing on settling down in one place,” Austin said. “That’s my main goal, to make something like that happen.”

Laker Coach Bill Fitch will be one of those trying to convince Austin that he should settle down in Clipperland.

And what will the coach use as selling points to his new center?

“Living out here is great,” Fitch said. “We have a great practice facility. We should be able to pay him as much as he wants. And I’ll tell him what I tell my other players, that they might like to be a part of turning this thing around here, doing the impossible.”

If Austin decides to try and accomplish that task, he might have to settle down here for a long while.

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Former Clipper coach Paul Silas is a Hornet assistant. Silas was the Clippers’ coach for three seasons, from 1980-81 to ‘82-83, back when the club was still located in San Diego.