In , the Mavericks acquired Canadian guard Steve Nash from the Phoenix Suns and the draft rights to German forward Dirk Nowitzki from the Milwaukee Bucks. Nash and Nowitzki quickly became the cornerstone of the franchise and in they led the Mavericks to their first playoffs in 11 years. However, Nash returned to the Suns as a free agent in , while Nowitzki continued with the team and finally led the Mavericks to their first NBA title in 2011. In the 1999 draft, the Mavericks drafted Chinese center Wang Zhizhi. After almost two years of negotiation with Wang's Chinese team, he was finally signed in April 2001 and became the first Chinese player to play the NBA.