The Dallas Mavericks had two young budding stars back in 2000. The Mavs had not made the playoffs since 1990. Dirk Nowitzki was entering his third season. He showed plenty of promise during the previous year. Steve Nash was running the point and coming off his breakout season.
There are a ton of parallels between the 2000-2001 season, and the coming year for the Mavericks. Luka Doncic is running the point and coming off his breakout season (Nash was 26 years old, though). The Mavs have Kristaps Porzingis as their power forward.