Next few weeks threaten to push the Grizzlies' freefall even faster

The Grizzlies lost their last four games heading into the All-Star break. Heading into tonight's contest with the Utah Jazz, they find themselves 5.5 games back of the surging Los Angeles Clippers post trade deadline. The Grizzlies will not end up facing Jaren Jackson Jr. this season, as he recently underwent knee surgery.

Given the current roster situation, things are unlikely to improve, and this will be a challenging end to the season for the Grizzlies.

Utah was recently fined $500,000 for conduct detrimental to the league due to sitting key players late in their games against the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat. However, the Grizzlies are sitting multiple key players in their first game post-All-Star break. The timing is interesting given yesterday's news that the NBA is looking into more measures to address tanking.

With the different anti-tanking policies that have been proposed, this appears to be the last year that the Grizzlies could potentially tank for improved draft position without significant scrutiny.

However, it could genuinely become worth monitoring if the Grizzlies face any potential league discipline in the coming weeks with how they've handled rotations and injury reports. The Indiana Pacers were also fined $100,000 for violating the Player Participation Policy, and it remains to be seen if any of the Grizzlies' recent reports are at risk for investigation.

Things look bleak for this year's Grizzlies

The Grizzlies will face the 16th-best remaining strength of schedule in the NBA. However, due to how shorthanded the team is following the trade deadline, it will be difficult for the team to find many wins. Bleacher Report even went as far as to predict that the Grizzlies will finish 27-55, meaning that the Grizzlies would have to go 7-22 the rest of the season.

With Kentavious Caldwell-Pope out for the season, and players such as Ja Morant, Brandon Clarke, and Zach Edey still not back from multi-week absences, the Grizzlies are simply down multiple key contributors that could produce more wins. Players such as Ty Jerome and Scotty Pippen Jr. are significant boosts, but they will likely be managed carefully due to the severity of their injuries.

Even though the Grizzlies will likely struggle to win enough games for postseason play, the Grizzlies still have enough young talent that remains worth watching. It cannot be ruled out that the team pulls off multiple surprise wins the rest of the way.

The Grizzlies are currently 2-4 in the month of February. They will play three teams in the bottom five of the Western Conference and then also play the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors, who are both headed in the wrong direction. On paper, the Grizzlies should have chances for wins, but their current circumstances could push them further down the standings.