Scott, they are many ways to skin a cat?
What you are describing is exactly what I do mainly for large Cattleyas and those which are difficult to remove from their old baskets or pots. If you look at my Lc Rojo / Ctt Rojo, posted recently, that is exactly what I did. The roots were totally integrated with the wooden basket, I took the whole thing and popped it into an empty clay pot. But the plant managed to grow downwards into the pot from some of the new leads, so I had to break that pot and I simply popped the whole thing into a wirebasket with a Coconut fiber mat. It is perfectly happy in there now.
Btw, down the road, if you need to divide a plant in a wire basket, it is not that difficult. I bought a special strong wire clipper at HD just for that purpose. It works well.
