Who was hurt? AD gets to play with the GOAT in the city where he wants to be. NO's future is much brighter. And competitive balance is outrageously good -- the West will be a dogfight next year.
The only loser is some traditional idea of players as chattel.
The loser is the competitive balance of the league, and the ability of small market teams to compete. If it's the case that
even when they manage to draft someone who grows into a top player, small-market teams nevertheless have that player immediately start wrangling to try and leave and go to bigger markets, then merely recovering some good draft picks or good-value contracts is not an answer for them - even if they spend those draft picks brilliantly, the cycle will continue again, rather than leaving them in a position to compete. It means a third of the league, maybe half, might as well fold up shop because they're never going to sniff a title, because any of the players who could actually deliver a decent shot at one are going to shoot their way out of town for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with how well the front office has done at assembling a roster, hiring a coach, marketing the team, etc. It means the franchises are hopeless when it comes to competing, and the fans will shortly know it.
That outcome hurts the league as a whole every bit as much as it hurts the franchises in question, because US sports leagues have convinced viewers and fans that they are predicated on every team having a more-or-less level playing field, and that even if you sink low, you still have a chance to rebuild and become the next small-market success story. The TB Rays made the World Series, the Jaguars almost went to the Super Bowl, the Marlins won two championships. Tons of smaller-market teams have won in the NHL, NFL and even MLB. The same has been true historically of the NBA, but if star players can shoot their way out of town and only really want to play for a half-dozen teams, it hurts everyone.
That's the way it is in european soccer leagues, where the financial advantage of a few teams means that there is almost no ability for most teams to truly compete for a title, and it's just a question of whether you can move up or down the pecking order a little bit. But there are almost no surprises in the top UEFA leagues, which is why Leicester City winning the EPL a few years ago was truly the shock of a lifetime.
So, no, the "only loser" is not some idea of "owning a person". The harmed party need not be a single person or team, it can be the league and viewing public at large.