Divac to Stay in L.A. With Six-Year Deal : Basketball: Bypassing offers from Europe, center signs with Lakers for a reported $19.5 million.

Heading off a big- lira offer from Italy and a big- peseta offer from Spain, the Lakers announced Thursday they have signed Vlade Divac to a long-term contract.

Divac, 24, was near the end of his original three-year deal and about to become a free agent.

He got a six-year contract, said by a source to be about $19.5 million.

“I am so happy,” Divac said at a Forum news conference. “I had a chance to return to Europe, but Lakers are my top choice.

“I was talking with Spanish and Italian teams, but I like L.A. I like the Lakers, and my family is now here.”

Divac is earning $942,000 this season.

The Lakers might have preferred to wait until late this summer to make this deal. If they had, they could have signed other free agents and still given Divac the same amount, because the rules say teams can always sign their own free agents. Now Divac’s new salary will count against the Laker total on the cap.

The Lakers, however, didn’t believe they could wait.

“The Lakers didn’t have that luxury,” said Divac’s agent Marc Fleischer, “or Vlade would have been long gone.”

Divac, the next-to-last first-round pick in the 1989 draft, is a native of Yugoslavia. Last year, he became the starting center, averaged 11.2 points and 8.5 rebounds and shot 56.5%. He then played his best basketball of the season in the playoffs against the Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls.

Divac has exceptional ballhandling and passing skills, rare for a big man. He had been a fan favorite since his arrival and has done a lucrative business in commercial endorsements.

He underwent back surgery Nov. 27 and didn’t return until Wednesday night, when he scored nine points and took seven rebounds in 19 minutes. In his absence, the Lakers went 19-22.

“Today I practiced,” he said. “I have no pain. I have no problems with my back. My only problem is my right leg is a little weak.”