Nothing is ever guaranteed in the NBA's free agency period these days — not even if your team receives a verbal commitment. No team knows this better than the Dallas Mavericks, who have, for nearly a full decade now, tried their best to lure big-name free agents to Dallas. But for whatever reasons — perhaps they were relying too much on selling an idea more than what they actually had on the roster at the time — Mark Cuban and the Mavs have been unsuccessful in those pursuits.

By already having a couple of young superstars in-house in Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, though, while also having a good supporting cast on team-friendly deals, the Mavs might finally have a real chance to catch lightning in a bottle soon.

Doncic and Porzingis were both on the Mavs' roster before last year's free agency began, but the idea of them playing together at that time was just that — an idea — given that Porzingis had yet to make his return from his ACL injury. In hindsight, the Mavs acquisitions last summer turned out to be a lot more helpful than many thought at the time, though it still doesn’t compare to the lofty Kemba Walker dreams the team had.

On paper, the potential for the Doncic-Porzingis duo was undeniable, but most people needed to actually see it before believing it. Maybe that line of thinking applies to Kemba, too, who ultimately decided to join a more established and experienced Boston Celtics team, leaving the Mavs in an all-too-familiar position as a ‘bridesmaid’ once again.

Now, though, there’s more tangible results to present to future prospects.

Through 55 games this season, the Mavs’ young duo has added more context to the idea of another superstar potentially joining them later on by simply ‘showing their work.’ Doncic is playing at an MVP level, averaging 28.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game, and Porzingis hasn't been too shabby himself, considering his 20-month injury layoff, averaging 18.4 points, a career-high 9.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game.

And what's even better for the Mavs — the two still have another level they can go to together, as evidenced by their last outing against the Sacramento Kings, where they combined for 60 points on 62-percent shooting to go with 25 rebounds and 13 assists. Could more consistent performances like this persuade a third star to come to Dallas? As mentioned earlier, nothing is guaranteed, but the Mavs will be able to present their best — and most importantly, realistic —pitch to free agents that they’ve ever been able to in the next few years.

The biggest name in free agency this upcoming summer is Anthony Davis, but unless something crazy happens, it's expected that Davis will stay put with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. The 2021 free agency class, on the other hand, is where things could get interesting, though, as far as superstar talents potentially swapping teams is concerned.

Milwaukee Bucks’ superstar and reigning league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo figures to be the biggest star available in 2021, assuming that he doesn't sign an extension between now and then (League executives expect Antetokounmpo to re-sign with the Bucks, according to a report - though things can certainly change between now and then).

By now, we all should know the admiration Mavs GM Donnie Nelson has for Antetokounmpo. Nelson scouted and loved Antetokounmpo well before he became the ‘Greek Freak,’ and he was infamously overruled by owner Mark Cuban during the 2013 NBA draft when he wanted Dallas to select Antetokounmpo with the 13th pick instead of trading down to save a little money to chase Dwight Howard in free agency.

“We're cut out to bring the best possible on the planet earth right here to our backyard in Dallas," said Donnie Nelson on the Mavs Step Back Podcast this season after admitting earlier in the episode that he didn’t expect the Mavs to be this good, this early in the Doncic-Porzingis era.

We think it's reasonable to believe Doncic was able to begin conveying those front-office beliefs to others after spending All-Star Weekend rubbing shoulders with the best of the best.

Although Antetokounmpo has said all the right things up to this point about wanting to remain with the Bucks, we cling to the hope that there is a decision to be made there, that Milwaukee’s playoff success this year and potentially next year as well will be the determining factor on whether or not he seriously considers signing with a new team. On the flip side of that, we also believe the Mavs’ playoff success in that same time span will be the determining factor on how seriously Antetokounmpo (or any other star) would consider coming to Dallas.

Another component of this to consider is the European connection between Doncic, Porzingis and Antetokounmpo. That might not be the ‘be-all end-all,’ but you’d have to think that it can’t hurt, either. Sure, Antetokounmpo could always go to L.A. or some of the other big-city coastal markets, but one could argue that the Mavs’ current player personnel and family-like franchise structure is a good fit, if he does ultimately decide to make a change in scenery.

Even if the Mavs end up not obtaining the ultimate prize in Antetokounmpo, the fact remains that the team is in an in-Dallas unprecedented situation — a situation that will likely see them be more capable of acquiring high-level talent than they have been in the past. Players like Jrue Holiday (who we already know the Mavs like from free agency a few years ago) and Rudy Gobert (yes, he's a Euro and figures as a target) will also be on the open market in 2021.

The Mavs-Giannis connection is very wishful thinking, of course, because something of that magnitude actually happening would be like the Mavs catching lightning in a bottle. At the very least, though, the Mavs’ chances of doing something really special have increased significantly from where they were over the last decade. The opening on that aforementioned bottle has been made a little bit bigger, and thus, making our ‘All-Stargazing’ a little bit bigger as well.