Bucks Reportedly Hire Dunleavy : Pro basketball: Laker coach for two seasons said to be leaving to become Milwaukee coach and general manager.

Mike Dunleavy, coming off a tumultuous second year as coach of the Lakers, is apparently headed to the Milwaukee Bucks where he will be both general manager and coach.

Indications are that the Lakers will announce Dunleavy’s departure at a news conference today.

Prime Ticket, the cable network that carries Laker home games, reported late Monday night that Dunleavy is going to carry the title of vice president as well as being coach and general manager. The Milwaukee Sentinel, in a copyright story quoting two unnamed sources, also reported that Dunleavy was leaving the Lakers to join the Bucks.

John Steinmiller, vice president of business operations for the Bucks, would not confirm that Dunleavy is going to Milwaukee, but when asked if the Bucks would announce Dunleavy’s leaving, he said: “That’s not totally accurate.”

Sources have told The Times that an announcement probably will be made by the Lakers.

“We started looking for a general manager on the seventh of April and a coach on the 25th,” Steinmiller said. “Ever since we started this I haven’t talked to anybody we’ve interviewed or has applied. That’s been our policy.”

Neither Dunleavy nor Jerry West, the Laker general manager, could not be reached for comment.

No one in the Laker organization would deny the report and West, reached by Prime Ticket reporter Randi Hall, said: “Who knows what’s going to happen?”

In today’s editions, the Milwaukee Sentinel said that the Bucks will send money and a draft choice as compensation to the Lakers. However, it is understood that Milwaukee’s lottery pick is not the one being surrendered.

While Dunleavy’s name had been casually tossed around for the Buck job, it didn’t appear a likelihood. In fact, Dunleavy had repeatedly denied any interest in the Bucks job, saying he was hired to coach the Lakers.

But Dunleavy has strong ties in Milwaukee, where he served as both a player and coach. He joined the team as a player in 1983 and played for two years. Dunleavy suffered a serious back injury early in the 1984-85 season ending his full-time playing career.

Two years later he rejoined the Bucks as an assistant coach and stayed there until 1990, when he was named Laker coach, replacing Pat Riley.

In his first year, Dunleavy led the Lakers to the NBA finals, where they lost to Chicago .

However, many considered his coaching job this season even better. The team made the playoffs, despite the retirement of Magic Johnson and injuries to Vlade Divac and Sam Perkins.

Times Sports Editor Bill Dwyre and staff writers Jim Hodges and Larry Stewart contributed to this story.