Yep, exactly. Especially given how much the hype for SNW started with how much everyone loved Pike. He’s an alternative take on the whole Kirk thing, a modern reframing of the Star Trek positive masculinity. I also think continuing from The Cage with Number One etc was part of the excitement. Not a reboot or alternative timeline, but a lost story that could be told for todays audience.
I’m not sure how much hype was driven by TOS prequel potential. I’d bet not much at all (recall the negative reaction many had to the enterprise even showing up at the end of DISCO S1).
So, when TOS characters start turning up (Uhura counts here IMO), you have to be suspicious that it’s the studio hedging their bets over the money pot that a TOS reboot could be for them and forcing the show runners into it.