Am I completely off base here??
You might be right about some things, but wrong about others.
Gavin, Matonis, JVP, and Ian Griggs all genuinely believe Craig is Satoshi based on their
personal experiences. They are not part of some grand plot to take over bitcoin.
Whether or not Craig is truly a fraud who tricked them all - that's another story, it seems to be true at the moment but more information may arise as time goes on.