Constraint Theory & Why the Jazz Could Thrive in the Bubble

Pushing through challenges can elevate people and groups — including the Jazz, whose defining stars rose out of constraints to stardom. (Melissa Majchrzak via ESPN.com)

On March 9, 2020, two days before the NBA sent the country into a full-blown panic, ESPN had the Jazz at seventh in their Power Rankings. Now, as the Jazz prepare to resume their season without injured forward Bojan Bogdanovic, they have fallen four spots in ESPN’s ranking, past the Mavericks, Rockets, Heat and Sixers and into 11th place. This is not surprising. In fact, it’s fairly accurate. The Jazz are in a tough position. Losing their second-leading scorer is not a good thing. But, without Bogdanovic, it might still work.

It’s human nature to see a constraint or a limitation as something negative, something that diminishes your ability to succeed. Common wisdom suggests the more scope, time and resources you have, the easier it will be to find success. In the context of basketball, this translates to the idea that if a team simply removed all constraints (i.e., injuries, fatigue, away games, etc.) they would produce more wins. But is this always the case?

Absolutely not. A recent study in the Harvard Business Review sheds light on this fallacy¹. After reviewing 145 empirical studies on the effects of constraints on creativity and innovation, researchers found that individuals, teams, and organizations actually benefit from a healthy dose of constraints. Conversely, these same groups suffer when almost no constraints are placed on the creative process.

This principle is counterintuitive. A lack of constraints actually limits our ability to perform. Somehow the mind becomes complacent and we lose our edge. Instead of digging deep, we dig our heels in against the changing environment. We frequent the path of least resistance. However, with constraints, we find instant motivation. The mind focuses. We dig deep. We look for new paths, new strategies, and completely new ways to approach the problem.

Constraints lift teams. In 2017-18, the Jazz began the season with deflated expectations, and rightly so. The season prior, after years of rebuilding, Utah had finally made some noise in the playoffs, dismantling the Griffin-era Clippers with their rising star, Gordon Hayward. But you know the rest of the story. Hayward ghosted Gail Miller and fled to greener pastures. As he so poignantly put it in his epic rap debut, he was “Too Big, Yo.”

Hayward’s departure and the resulting identity crisis were a constraint. Yet head coach Quin Snyder and the Utah Jazz stunned everyone. They picked up a wide-eyed rookie replacement from the Nuggets draft factory, took on a new identity, and found a way to win more playoff games than the previous year. Without the constraint of Hayward’s departure, the ball would not have been in the hands of Donovan Mitchell so frequently that early in his career, which means his development would have been stunted. Losing the Jazz’s biggest asset in a decade actually worked to their benefit.

Constraints lift individuals. The career of Rudy Gobert was born out of constraints. Early on, Gobert was seen by many as an experiment and a giant gamble. Scouts worried about his ability to expand his offensive game — concerns are still voiced today despite historic efficiency. Gobert’s limitations on offense are obvious. In order to score, he still needs the right system, the right coach, and the right players around him. Yet, in spite of all of Gobert’s limitations, his advanced offensive metrics are incredible. And this is the point: His offensive limitations led to his offensive genius. His own constraints pushed Gobert to furiously work on the stuff that nobody worked on. Nobody spent serious time focusing on setting the perfect screen. Nobody was working that hard on making crisp, purposeful rolls to the rim. These incredible, unnoticed offensive capabilities are why Gobert still continues to be underrated and why he remains one of the best offensive weapons in the NBA.

And, importantly, these capabilities were born out of Gobert’s limitations.

Coming into this season, the Utah Jazz arguably brought one of the NBA’s most talented starting fives from top to bottom. Mike Conley. Mitchell. Joe Ingles. Bogdanovic. Gobert. This team was ready to take the leap to the contender tier. However, the Jazz came out disconnected, confused, and at times, sloppy. While there were countless reasons why this happened, a more subtle explanation was they simply had too few constraints. Their power forward could now shoot the lights out. Their point guard was dynamic and could take over when Mitchell needed a breather. It was too much all at once. They had everything at their disposal and yet at times they had nothing.

However, in December, with Conley’s injuries lasting over a month, the Jazz were forced to retool and reboot. And it worked. From December 2nd to January 18, while their star point guard was out, the Jazz produced some of their best basketball. After losing the first three of four games without Conley, the Jazz went onto win 16 of their next 18 games. The constraint of losing Mountain Mike helped facilitate a much-needed spark in the Jazz offense.

Now, inside the odd environment of NBA’s Disney bubble, Bogdanovic will be unable to play as he recovers from wrist surgery. The likelihood the  Jazz will bow out in the first round of the playoffs is high. But there’s a small chance this team reaches another level under this constraint. Mitchell could make another leap. Conley could catch fire. The Minivan — reserve forward Georges Niang — might even find some nitrous under the carseat. There are advantages to smaller lineups and opportunities to use players like Niang and Emmanuel Mudiay in innovative ways. Mitchell and Gobert will have a wealth of opportunities to take over games, and even against the best competition it is well within their reach to do that.

At the end of the day, the current situation is not ideal. But there will always be power in the constraint. The loss of Bogdanovic will bring unity, focus, and motivation. And it might just set this team up for something truly special.