The Balance team knows what they're doing

They know what they are doing, but they are not "balancing" the game.

IMHO:

I've been playing the game for 6-7 years, I think yasou was the first "new champ" for me. For most of that time I followed their patch notes and dev blogs pretty closely.

They're way better at balancing champs now than they were years ago. They seem much better at quickly identifying what a champion should and shouldn't be good at, and target buffing/nerfing those specific parts of their kit.

They don't always get it right, but I feel like their process is much better.

They made good things, they made bad things, currently imo Pyke buffs are their major mistake.