No, not correct. On an established plant, the big roots serve mainly for stability and as connection points for the smaller, hairlike and near microscopic roots that do all the heavy lifting for the plant in terms of nutrient/gas/liquid absorption. That said, you may still want some thicker ones for pure stability in the pot for windy days if outside.

If in doubt, just cut off the bottom 1/3, trim the sides in so they're well away from the inner pot wall, fan the remaining roots out radially like spokes on a wheel if staring straight down at the plant, then set it on top of the "volcano" mound of new Gritty in the pot. Add the remaining gritty methodically so you fill in as many gaps or potential gaps as possible. Use a wood BBQ skewer or plastic fork to gently poke mix into and among the fanned out roots.

If you see a few large, old gnarled roots, it is actually a healthy practice to cut those out as long as removing those won't make your plant topple.

Agree - concentrate on removing problem roots first, then the older and largest roots that aren't radiation from the base of the stem at the roots to stem transition. The finest roots do all the work, except for anchoring the plant, so your objective is to remove heavy roots so the plant can use the freed-up space for more fine roots.

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Al

Hmm...ok, well then oops I guess. I didn't remove all the fine roots but I did remove quite a few. There really weren't any problematic looking big roots - this is only my third year with the tree. Not sure how old it was when I got it - couldn't have been that old. I guess my tree will just be well anchored. Hopefully the fine roots will regrow quickly. Any suggestions for a quicker recovery?