For the most part, it's working. Hayward made a huge jump in year 4 to 5. Favors has made steady progression every year. Burke stalemated in his second year but is looking much improved in his third year. Burks the jury is still out, he's a frustrating player to watch because he has the tools to be a really good player. Kanter was the rawest player in the draft so keeping him 4 years was probably the right thing to do in hope he breaks out. We know how it went down, but doubt he would have fetched more than a mid 1st rounder at any point after his second year.
It's the most prudent approach for sure, especially for a small market. All we can hope for is for us to strike it lucky in the draft 1 year and grab the likes of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili out of thin air and try to contend. We have a defensive super star in Gobert, I still think we need an instant offensive force to contend.
And if you say "well look at the '04 Pistons", yeah well they had Rip Hamilton who was pretty reliable as well as "Mr. Big Shot" himself who gave them that winning shot whenever they needed it.