Nico Harrison's Luka Doncic trade wasn't even his worst decision in Dallas

Former Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has been under fire ever since he traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers over nine months ago, but his questionable moves started long before that. In a new report from DLLS Sports' Tim Cato surrounding Harrison's firing, he revealed that a team source "recalls (of) a document where Harrison placed Jrue Holiday within the same trade target tier as Nikola Jokić."

Harrison placing Holiday and Jokic in the same trade tier doesn't mean that he believed that Holiday was better than Jokic, but the fact that Jokic was even in the same stratosphere as Holiday in Harrison's head is a major concern. Cato continued to mention that there were concerns surrounding Harrison's talent evaluation ever since he was hired to be the Mavericks' general manager, and this report embodies that.

The Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis trade will always be hated in Dallas, but ranking Jokic alongside Holiday is an even worse evaluation of talent.

Harrison got a taste of talent evaluation during his time at Nike as Vice President of North American basketball operations, but clearly not enough, considering how bad this report makes him look.

There's no way Harrison put Holiday and Jokic in the same sentence

Regardless of what season this document was from, it doesn't make it look any better for Harrison. Jokic won his first MVP during the 2020-21 season, the year before Dallas hired Harrison. He then won MVP again the following season (2021-22, which was Harrison's first year as a GM), was then the runner-up in the 2022-23 season, and won MVP again in the 2023-24 season before being the runner-up again last season.

From the season before Harrison was hired until now, Jokic has either won MVP or been the runner-up. On the other hand, Holiday made one All-Star game during that time.

It is absolutely inexcusable that Harrison thought Holiday and Jokic were even similar in talent, and his obsession with defense and two-way players was something that stuck with him for his entire tenure. He was always comfortable with giving up playmaking or shot creation for more defense, and the Doncic trade was the ultimate example of that.

Doncic had just led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals the season before Harrison traded him for Anthony Davis, but Harrison believed that Davis would give them a better chance to win the second title in franchise history. He had built a previous relationship with Davis, and he put his injury issues aside to make him the new face of the franchise.

Nine months later, Davis' time in Dallas has been a disaster, and Harrison's bet on his defense blew up in his face. Davis has only played in 14 regular-season games since the Mavericks traded for him while Doncic has played in 36 regular-season games and five playoff games.

This season for the Lakers, Doncic is averaging 33.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 9.2 assists, and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 46.9 percent from the field, and he is looking a lot like the MVP candidate that Dallas traded away. On top of this, the Lakers are 9-4 and have looked like one of the best teams in the West.

As time goes on, more and more reports will emerge surrounding Harrison's stint as the Mavericks' GM, and they likely won't do him much justice.

The Holiday-Jokic trade tiering report is the final nail in the coffin when it comes to his questionable talent evaluation, and this shows how far he'd go for defense.