The summer is always interesting in the NBA. The league calendar starts on July 1st, and at midnight on that date free agents can begin agreeing to new contracts. While many players seek the security of a long-term contract that spans multiple years, the CBA’s call for shorter contracts has created an uptick in shorter contracts this summer.

There is power in the short 1-year contract, for both the player and the team. Players can sign a 1-year deal and push the day they negotiate for a long-term contract ahead by a year. They run the serious risk of injury, but they can also give teams more incentive to commit to them financially if they perform well in the short window.

For teams the range of possibilities are different. The short contract or the expiring one can be extremely helpful. If nothing else, it provides flexibility. It gives franchises a finite deadline to decide what they will do with a player. That could include an extension, a trade, waivers, or letting the player leave for nothing in free agency. While the last option sounds crappy, the end of a contract provides the team with cap relief should they want to pursue other veterans in free agency or intentionally worsen their roster to improve draft position for the future.

This summer provided some interesting uses of both one-year and expiring deals in team building. It seemed to mystify a lot of fans and media members, but we’re here to set the record straight.

Demarcus Cousins signs 1-year deal with Golden State

The internet had a field day with this, but it wasn’t nearly as crazy as the headline sounds. When Demarcus is on top of his game, he can be a devastating force inside and one of the league’s elite scorer’s. The thing is, he may never be at the top of his game again. He tore his achilles last season with the Pelicans in their uptempo offense. While science has made strides with just about every other injury, this one is still career-altering in basketball. For a man of Cousins’ size, it could completely strip him of his explosiveness. The Warriors were already the favorite, Demarcus likely took the deal to show that he can be part of a winning situation. He’s still never participated in a playoff game. He is projected to return around January, so he only needs to be a competent starter for about half a season to convince a team that he’s worth signing for big bucks.

Toronto trades for Kawhi Leonard

Timing was poor for the Raptors. The Lowry/Derozan era was the franchise’s best, but it coincided with Lebron’s prime. Even after he finally left the conference, the Celtics and Sixers appear young and talented enough to lead it for the foreseeable future. So, the trade of Demar Derozan for Kawhi could be seen as a way to shake the roster up to vie for contention, but there is a secondary plan in play here. Kawhi’s contract expires after this season. Pundits expect him to flee to LA in free agency next summer. So, the Raptors can use the 2018-19 season to woo a top-5 player into staying or re-purpose his departure in 2019 free agency into expediting their eventual rebuild. Derozan was always going to be the first Raptor traded. His age and the length of his contract made him easier to move than Kyle Lowry in the face of a rebuild. There is no negative to this deal for Toronto besides Demar’s hurt feelings.

Lakers sign Rondo, Stephenson, McGee, and Beasley

LA brought in Rondo, Lance Stephenson, Javale McGee, and Michael Beasley to team with Lebron in his first year as a Laker. It made many people wonder why the front office would put such a mercurial group around its newest star. The easy answer is that they filled their roster out with veterans that might be able to help the young core of Ball, Kuzma, and Ingram in their development. The informed can see that all these vets took one-year pacts, pushing LA’s massive cap space to the summer of 2019. They secured the first big fish this summer. Next year’s talent pool will have considerably more star level talent to choose from, and they should be easier to sign with LA, Lebron, and the young talent as bait.