Call it the NBA's search for The Next Dirk.

(And a pretty futile search so far.‎)

As we referenced in our recent ode to Kristaps Porzingis, 16 players have been drafted out of Europe with lottery picks since Pau Gasol (Class of 2001) arrived in Memphis to join the revolutionary Dirk Nowitzki (Class of 1998) on a Hall of Fame path.

‎Those 16 players, to date, have combined to make zero appearances in the All-Star Game.

This, of course, is by no means intended to diminish the impact of a number of European draftees from outside the lottery. Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Boris Diaw -- just to name three San Antonio Spurs ‎-- are synonymous with championship basketball. Pau's little brother, Marc, as recently as July, was outfitted with a max contract after co-starring at the forefront of free agency with LaMarcus Aldridge.

There were 100 players from 37 countries on Opening Night rosters when the 2015-16 season began, with no shortage of success stories.

Yet this is a list worth examining and reviewing, if only to remind ourselves how much recent history is stacked against Porzingis, who will duel head-to-head with Dirk for the first time Monday night when Nowitzki's Dallas Mavericks make their annual Madison Square Garden visit.

If you include Brandon Jennings, who is recognized by ESPN Stats & Information for the purposes of this discussion as a European import because he was playing professionally in Italy when the Milwaukee Bucks made him the No. 10 overall selection in 2009, we're talking about an NFL season's worth of Porzingis predecessors who haven't been able to make anything resembling a Dirk-‎ian splash.

Twelve of the 16 players on the following list -- all but Jennings, Ricky Rubio, Thabo Sefolosha and Mickael Pietrus -- are in the same size range as Nowitzki and Gasol: