One surprising candidate who could replace Jeremy Lin for the Brooklyn Nets is 24-year-old Atlanta Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder.

Chris Mannix believes the Hawks do not think he is their long-term solution (via Yahoo Sports):

“Here’s one thing I know about Travis Schlenk: He wants nothing to do with long-term contracts. Schlenk craves flexibility, and his early moves – trading [Dwight] Howard, making little effort to retain Paul Millsap – tell me he’s thinking well into the future. Schroder is a little different though. There’s legitimate talent there, which can’t be dismissed. But more importantly, there is no real market for him. I ran Schroder’s name by a few team executives this week, and each recoiled.”

Mannix does not think that Schroder has much value, but the Nets would likely be interested in the point guard after losing Lin for the season.

Kenny Atkinson was an assistant coach for Schroder in Atlanta before he became the head coach for Brooklyn. Jordan Ott, who is an assistant for the Nets, was also an assistant for Schroder with the Hawks.

According to Nets Daily, Atkinson was supposed to work with Schroder as an assistant on the German men’s basketball national team during the 2015 FIBA Eurobasket tournament.

New #Nets assistant Chris Fleming is German national team coach, giving Nets two coaches who've tutored Dennis Schroder. — NetsDaily.com (@NetsDaily) May 24, 2016

Brooklyn assistant Chris Fleming is the head coach for the German national team. Fleming has spoken highly of Schroder in interviews (via Hawks.com):

“Our backcourt play has carried us offensively. We rely on Dennis…We ask a lot of him on both ends. I thought he was pretty good defensively. … It’s easy to talk about his offensive gifts and all the stuff he gets done.”

Last season, Schroder scored 31 points against Brooklyn. After the game, Atkinson called the point guard a “heck of a competitor” who has an eternal chip on his shoulder.

This would be a fantastic counterpart for D’Angelo Russell, the former No. 2 overall pick who’s also playing with a vengeance after he was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Nets earlier this offseason.

During his last three seasons, Schroder has had a usage rate above 30 percent. Last year, Lin had a 28.8 percent usage rage for Brooklyn. The German-born point guard had a higher assist rate than Lin. He made 42 percent of his shots near the rim, better than all but eight percent of NBA point guards.

I really like Dennis Schroder’s pace with the ball. Can change it in a pinch to slip by defenders en route to the rim — Josh Martin (@JoshMartinNBA) November 4, 2016

He has led a high-speed offense, which will be important since the Nets were the fastest-paced team in the league last year.

Schroder was also remarkably efficient on mid-range shot attempts (45.6 percent) and corner three-pointers (50 percent) last season, both much better than what Lin produced last year.

Potential players whom Brooklyn could eventually trade for Schroder include DeMarre Carroll and Timofey Mozgov or Trevor Booker paired with Caris LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Quincy Acy, Joe Harris, Sean Kilpatrick or Tyler Zeller. If the Hawks are interested in any of the above, the Nets should rush to make a deal.

Atlanta does not have much to gain with Schroder on their roster if they do not think he is there as a long-term floor general. Brooklyn, however, does not own the rights to its own draft pick next season. As such, they’ve made an effort to acquire young players in other ways such as trades and extending big offer sheets to restricted free agents. Landing the 24-year-old Schroder would certainly fit their plan.