With Monta Ellis' opt-out deadline approaching, the Bucks made an attempt to extend the veteran guard, according to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Gardner reports that the Bucks offered Ellis a two-year contract extension which would have kept him under contract through the 2015/16 season. It's not clear when exactly the negotiations took place, but it appears Ellis opted to pass on Milwaukee's offer.
Because Ellis is in the fifth year of a six-year contract, he was one of a pair of Bucks veterans that was extension-eligible entering the season. Extension offers can be for no more than four total years, including the current season, so Milwaukee's offer would have added two new years in 2014/15 and 2015/16, and would have hinged on the 27-year-old exercising his player option for next season.
According to Gardner, the Bucks' extension offer would have kept Ellis under contract for three years at nearly $36MM, beginning this summer. The maximum allowable raise in a veteran extension offer is 7.5%, so if Milwaukee was offering the max, the deal would have been worth $11,000,000 in '13/14, $11,825,000 in '14/15, and $12,711,875 in '15/16, for a total of $35,536,875.
Although Ellis is expected to opt out of his contract with the Bucks on or before June 20th and test the free agent waters, I'd be a bit surprised if he landed a deal that paid him a higher annual salary than what Gardner reports Milwaukee was offering. Perhaps he thinks he can do better, or wants to secure a four-year deal, or simply prefers to sign with another team.
A recent report suggested that the Bucks would prefer to keep Ellis over Brandon Jennings, while another report indicated Ellis may have interest in joining the Kings.