It is a separate roster under the same org. It fulfills the most important objectives(imo), which are the ability to practice amongst each-other & cultivate talent. Agent flexibility & map versatility should be standard in any individual team; forcing a larger playerpool just to fill those gaps beyond a 6th or a 7th player won't work in this game. Academy teams allow for you to grow your talent faster and bring them up to the main team, if needed. This comes with the added bonus of not eroding player satisfaction. A lot of players have reported being dissatisfied in OWL, because of the 7<man structure, some ride the bench for long periods and in general the culture will definitely not sit nicely with a playerbase, that has mainly come from counter-strike.
10-man teams in general don't make sense for anything, that's not a league format where you are restricted to make roster moves over a long period. I believe, that most people primarily care about the players and not the orgs they represent, that's more relevant for a league with actual team brands.
In LCS for example, academy teams are the standard. That is what I am envisioning to become the standard over time for this game as well once it matures.
And for the "it makes >bo3's more watchable/playable", this one I just do not get. Unless both of them are just going to swap all players in the middle of a boX, it certainly won't make it easier for the core. And for the viewers, I don't know, that is your personal preference, I guess.
Discord