The Detroit Pistons have hired Lawrence Frank as the new head coach, according to a source.

Frank, who will sign a three-year contract, will be Detroit's sixth coach in 11 seasons.

Frank was most recently an assistant coach with the Celtics.

Pistons guard Ben Gordon is one of four players who will continue to get paid if the NBA lockout stretches into the upcoming season.

All are clients of agent Raymond Brothers, who spread their 2010-11 NBA salaries over 18 or 24 months in case the lockout forces the cancellation of games.

The others are Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph, Mavericks forward Caron Butler and Clippers forward Al-Farouq Aminu.

Lawrence Frank has emerged as the choice to become the Detroit Pistons’ next head coach and a formal contract offer is expected within the next day, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Frank, an assistant with the Boston Celtics, separated his candidacy in his first meetings with management and ownership, distancing himself from contenders Mike Woodson and Kelvin Sampson, sources said.

The Pistons organization has been deliberate in the process, talking to several candidates. But barring unforeseen snags in contract talks, Frank figures to replace John Kuester, who was fired as coach on June 5.

Mike D'Antoni could hire a defensive specialist depending on what happens with the Pistons head coaching search, where the finalists appear to be Mike Woodson and Lawrence Frank.

D'Antoni personally likes Frank and there is a strong mutual interest there for many reasons.

First of all, whomever the Knicks hire would have to accept a one-year deal because D'Antoni is going into the final year of his contract and there is some uncertainty about his future. Frank, unlike most, would likely be amenable to accepting a one-year contract because it gives him the freedom to continue to look for head coaching jobs.

Frank might also prefer New York over returning to Boston for proximity reasons, as well, because he could be home full-time in New Jersey, where his wife and two daughters remained last season when he worked for the Celtics.

Ben Wallace is doing plenty of research now into law schools. The thought has been brewing for years, and he even spoke to former Pistons coach John Kuester about it three years ago when Wallace played in Cleveland.

"It would not surprise me at all to see him practicing law," teammate Tayshaun Prince said. "Not at all."

Prince has heard Big Ben go to work with convincing presentations. His most famous speech came in the 2003 playoffs, when the Pistons trailed the Orlando Magic, 3-1, in the first round.

"He is very convincing," Prince said with a smile.

The Pistons are searching for a new head coach and because of the lockout, players such as Austin Daye are unable to talk to Joe Dumars for inside information on the process.

"I'm looking at RealGM.com more than I ever have before, looking at all the websites, just to see what's going to happen," Austin Daye said. "But whatever Joe Dumars decides, I'm sure it's going to be a good decision."

Lawrence Frank and Mike Woodson are the leading candidates for the position.

Of the five known candidates for job, sources say that former Pistons assistant Mike Woodson is still the closest thing to a favorite, thanks largely to Woodson’s good working relationship with Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars and the fact that Detroit would know exactly what it’s getting after Woodson’s work under Larry Brown during the Pistons’ 2004 title run.

Yet sources say that one reason Detroit’s search has dragged out so long is the strong impression that Lawrence Frank made on new Pistons owner Tom Gores and his advisers, among them former New York Knicks executive Dave Checketts.

Detroit’s choice, then, appears to be a tossup between the unattached Woodson and Frank, who remains part of Doc Rivers’ staff in Boston.

A person familiar with the situation says the Detroit Pistons fired 15 people two weeks ago.

The person, who wasn’t authorized to speak about the team’s moves, spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

The job losses come as NBA owners have locked out the players after failing to reach a new collective bargaining agreement, shutting down the league for what could be a protracted work stoppage that threatens the start of the 2011-12 season.

Bill Duffy, the agent for Pistons free-agent forward Tayshaun Prince, said he was contacted by Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars before the July 1 lockout to say he was interested in re-signing the veteran.

When and if there is a season this year, Duffy said the league most likely would have to restructure its free-agent signing period so players like Prince could either find a new home or return to the teams they played for last year.

"Once the new structure is set in place, are the teams that are interested in him now still going to be interested? Yes," Duffy said. "Will Detroit probably want to re-sign him? Yes. One thing that the league is proposing is some type of phase-in. You won't see the immediate impact where it would be rigid. If the league were victorious, which we're obviously against, I think it will be a condensed free-agent period and guys like Tayshaun will still be high on people's list.”

Pistons guard Will Bynum's agent, Mark Bartelstein, confirmed to The Detroit News on Monday a report that his client is interested in re-joining the Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv, whom Bynum played for from 2006-08.

"I would say you have to look at everything," Bartlestein said. "Will loves to play; it's how he makes his living."

Eurobasket.com, a website that covers the international game, reported Sunday that Bynum is interested in returning to Israel so he can join childhood friend Jeremy Pargo, a former Gonzaga standout.

Pargo and Bynum grew up on Chicago's south side and were considered playground legends.