you might be right about it being an excuse but it's actually not as far-fetched as you think.
all this help people want L&P to hire doesn't come cheap and would cut into profits AWAM makes.
Also, on top of that, if L&P actually does buy every single 3D model he uses and doesn't just download them freely. Well, that is not cheap either, it costs up to $125 just for one model with clothing and hair, something you definitely need for models.
Then take into consideration the amount of models used in AWAM, which is a lot of money just going into the models, and that doesn't even include the assets used to make the locations we see in AWAM.
Now I can't guarantee L&P has bought every single Daz asset he uses, there is no way to really know for certain if L&P did or didn't buy all the assets. If he did, then it severely cuts into any profits and if you want to be legally free to put AWAM on steam, then buying all the Daz assets is something you need to do.
You can buy models separately without hair or clothing assets included, but you still need hair and clothing assets for the model at some point, so you still have to buy them.
People might actually be surprised by how much money L&P has potentially spent on making AWAM.