This is a win/win gamble for Cal IMO.
1. He stays and UK gets a guy who is the number 1 recruit in the country and who has a half a year of practices with the team under his belt. So, he should be even further along than almost any other freshman in the country in 2022/2023.
2. He leaves to the NBA draft. Well, UK still got him for the second half of the season, where they could use him in practice, a luxury no other team has. Now our guards and forwards have increased competition every day, which only helps them to improve for this year and beyond. We have an open scholarship, so we didn't waste this on him when we could have used it on someone else.
3. Even if he doesn't log minutes in a game, Cal and UK will still claim him if he does well in the NBA. They'll still prop him up as someone that Cal helped to mold into a better player. That can only continue to help us in recruiting.
I just don't see the downside other than it just being a buzz kill that we as fans don't get to see him in games.