The Milwaukee Bucks' transition to a new era goes far beyond parting ways with the franchise’s best player. It encompasses much more than a coaching change or a new approach to games. At its core, the transformation begins with a modernized practice philosophy.
Traditional basketball drills—three-man weaves, layup lines, and stationary ball-handling—are now a thing of the past for the Bucks. Under Taylor Jenkins, the team has wholeheartedly adopted the innovative Constraints-Led Approach (CLA).
For the second time in his career, Jenkins comes to Milwaukee following in the footsteps of a basketball legend that the game seemingly passed by.
The first time came as an assistant to Mike Budenholzer in 2018. While the rest of the NBA was busy embracing the three-point line, Jason Kidd’s Bucks were stuck in the mid-range. Budenholzer and Jenkins revolutionized Milwaukee’s offense by implementing a five-out scheme that encouraged three-point shots. This helped Milwaukee move from a league-average offense to a top three unit in one season.
Jenkins has always been an early adopter of modern basketball principles. In fact, he was one of the pioneers of the offensive rebounding craze that has spread through the NBA and college basketball over the last half-decade.
In his second year in Memphis, he prioritized his guards and wings crashing the offensive glass. This strategy maximized the Grizzlies’ points per possession and reduced the chances his opponents could run in transition.
Entering his second stint in Milwaukee, this time as the head coach, Jenkins is once again tasked with getting a franchise up to speed with the modern game.
The Bucks’ transformation started over the summer when they brought in a coaching staff well-versed in the CLA. This momentum has continued into the opening week of training camp.
Here’s what Jenkins and his players really mean when they talk about constraints or the CLA.
History of the CLA in the NBA
The 2024-25 Cleveland Cavaliers were the first reported team to embrace the CLA in a major way. They hired Alex Sarama, author of Transforming Basketball and now the head coach of the WNBA Portland Fire. Sarama has preached CLA principles as part of his approach for years and was given a lot of latitude by Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson to integrate these principles into practice.
The impact was immediate and historic. The Cavaliers opened the season with 12 straight wins and ultimately secured the best record in the Eastern Conference at 64-18. Central to their turnaround was a remarkable surge in offensive efficiency—they improved by more than seven points per 100 possessions compared to the previous season.
Since then, other teams such as the Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Indiana Pacers have begun implementing the CLA in practice. Stars such as Victor Wembanyama is also on record embracing the practice in his workouts.
The Grizzlies are another team that adopted it. Jenkins began using the CLA during his final season in Memphis and, according to Jim Owczarski, was busy studying it during his year off from coaching.
What are constraints?
The primary ingredient in the CLA is manipulating the constraints placed on a player during an activity. Basically, a constraint is defined as a condition that shapes what a player can or can’t do.
In basketball, whether in games or practices, constraints shape every possession. The shot clock determines how long you have to score. The defense's positioning influences where you can drive. Your skills and athleticism also affect what you can take advantage of.
There are three types of constraints a coach can put on an activity: Individual, task and/or environmental.
Individual constraints are the qualities each player brings to the court, including height, wingspan, strength, and skill. A quick guard and a powerful center might attack the same scoring opportunity in completely different ways. The idea is to help players discover effective solutions that fit their abilities.
Task constraints involve the rules and setup of the game—and give coaches plenty of room to get creative. They can shorten the shot clock, shrink the playing area, limit dribbles, or change the number of offensive and defensive players.
Environmental constraints include the conditions surrounding the action, such as crowd noise, lighting, and the playing surface.
That’s where the approach comes to life in practice. A coach who wants better off-ball movement might organize a possession with no dribbling, encouraging players to cut and create passing angles. To work on defensive communication, he might give the offense an extra player, requiring defenders to coordinate their rotations. Each adjustment creates a specific problem for players to solve, with the goal of helping them recognize and respond to similar situations during games.
Back to traditional basketball drills. Instead of layup lines to focus on footwork and finishing, a coach using the CLA might implement a drill that starts an offensive player with the ball somewhere on the three-point line. The defender lines up behind the player with the ball. The drill begins when the offensive player dribbles toward the hoop, allowing the defender to chase and contest the layup. The offensive player still works on finishing, but must also be aware of the defender’s positioning.
Once the offensive player develops some skill in finishing, the defender can move to starting even. Now, the offensive player needs to discern what kind of finishing move and footwork (one foot or two feet) to use depending on where the defender is. Again, this lets the offensive player work on finishing, but now they aren’t running a pre-planned move with no defense.
How this impacts the Bucks
Jenkins’ primary goal is to empower the Bucks to become independent problem-solvers—first in practice, then in games. He accomplishes this by crafting unpredictable, game-like scenarios that force players to adapt and think on their feet. As Jenkins described after his first Bucks practice, it’s about “changing the rules, changing the time, putting guys in compromising situations to sort things out.”
The CLA approach has proven useful for player development. That's especially important to the Bucks, considering the number of young players they have on their roster and their eye toward the future of the franchise.
This forward-thinking approach has already produced results for other NBA teams. If history is any guide, the Bucks are poised to reap similar rewards sooner than later.
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