Well, I don't have an answer but I don't think the owner was fully aware of the
situation when the deal was done. Leaves room for speculation
Speculation about what? With hindsight, one party will almost always have traders remorse. How often do trades equally benefit both parties?
If Heisley thinks he should have gotten more, that's too bad. No one put a gun to his head. He was outmaneuvered by a better organization. Happens all the time. There's nothing sinister about it.
Why should the league step in to stop a trade it thinks is bad for one party or the other? The league isn't in business to save owners from themselves.
If the NBA or the owners don't like it, then they should make salary dumps against the rules. Dumping salary happens all the time in baseball and football and no one gets sand in their vaginas over it.
The only thing fueling this "controversy" is envy of, and antipathy for, the Lakers.