You seem to be taking my participation trophy comment very seriously. I apologize.
And yes, Honor does reward something, which makes it even more valuable than it already is as a singular item. Riot wants Honor to be a very valuable thing, hence why it is so limited in distribution. It makes whoever got that honor feel more deserving of it because they know that someone on their team is honoring them and them alone.
Making it so we have more honor to distribute cheapens that feeling and leaves only the physical (or cyberspace) rewards of that honor. Which Riot wanted as an end goal, but not without a meaning to the journey.