Dallas Mavericks icon Dirk Nowitzki sees great things ahead for the Mavs with Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis leading the way.

Nowitzki's 21-year reign in Dallas ended after he retired at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season. However, he did leave the team in good hands in Doncic and Porzingis.

The 14-time NBA All-Star says he sees “great potential” from the current Mavs, and he feels the team is set to rise after years of mediocrity.

“I'm excited to see how Luka and K.P. are fitting together and how the rest of the squad is going to come together,” Nowitzki told Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. “I think we have great potential and I think that after the dip the last couple of years I think we should be on the rise. Hopefully there's some playoff basketball in the Mavs' future. That will be awesome.”

The Mavs never had a meaningful season since their 2011 championship with Nowitzki. In fact, Dallas never made it out the first round of the playoffs since then and missed the past three postseasons.

Nonetheless, the Mavs made a huge splash in 2018-19 by trading for Porzingis in exchange for Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and a couple of first-round picks. Kristaps didn't suit up for the Mavs in the last season though, as he recovers from his ACL injury.

With a fully healthy Porzingis pairing up with 2019 Rookie of the Year Doncic, the Mavs figures to be one of the must-watch teams in 2019-20. While it remains to be seen if the European duo can live up to the hype, there's still enough reason to be excited about Dallas' upcoming campaign.