Cade Cunningham's confidence should be familiar to Hawks fans

The Atlanta Hawks are set to play host to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, and the two franchises bear striking similarities, particularly at the top of their rosters.

Non-fans of either team might be hard-pressed to name anyone beyond Cade Cunningham or Trae Young on either the Pistons or Hawks’ rosters. But both players have poven capable of elevating their teammates even when it did not always show in the results.

To be clear, Cunningham has faced a different level of pressure as a former No. 1 pick.

However, he and Young have both been charged with being the face of franchises that – at least until recently – had not shown the clarity of vision to maximize their talents.

Young’s peak to this point came in 2020-21, when the Hawks went to the Eastern Conference Finals. He has been eager to reach even further than that – which only leaves the NBA Finals and a championship – ever since.

Cunningham and the Pistons may be having their 2020-21 Hawks season this year.

The Pistons are 22-21, giving them eight more wins than they had in all of 2023-24. They also sit seventh in the Eastern Conference entering play on January 22. That puts them on track for the No. 7 season and a spot in the Play-In Tournament.

Detroit has not made the postseason since 2018-19, and they have not won a playoff series since 2007-08.

Cunningham has also dealt with the politics of the All-Star game and its voting system.

Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic problem a significant X factor

Bogdan Bogdanovic will round into form eventually; or at least that is what the Hawks must be hoping for. The Hawks have not gotten the Bogdanovic that starred for Serbia during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

They have not even gotten the version that was a legitimate Sixth Man of the Year candidate last year.

Bodanogvic has made 21 of a possible 42 appearances this season.

He is averaging career-lows with 10.0 PPG on a 49% effective field goal percentage and a 31.3% clip from beyond the arc. He has average 5.0 PPG and shot 16% from downtown over his last four outings.

The Hawks need to discern how soon Bogdanovic can pull out of this slide and how they can help him do it.

Otherwise, their surprisingly competitive season could be undone by an unlikely source.

Inclement weather threatens attendance at the very least

Georgia is currently in a state of emergency as declared by Governor Kemp, but the Hawks have yet to announce any changes to the game. They have already had to postpone a matchup against the Houston Rockets.

However, “Locked On Hawks” host Brad Rowland noted the timeline for that decision had already passed for this game.

“FOX 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Joanne Feldman says that Atlanta broke a record for snowfall on Jan. 21,” the Fox 5 team wrote in a report updated on January 22. “Icy roadways continue to plague a good portion of the viewing area, causing major issues for drivers on Wednesday morning. Officials in many areas of metro Atlanta are asking drivers to stay off the roads as much as possible to avoid possible hazardous conditions.”

Soaring Down South will update this post if anything changes.