BL-HL-11: I am loathe to put this here, as I have said before. In Appendix B to LotR we have this statement:
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When maybe a thousand years had passed, and the first shadow had fallen on Greenwood the Great, the Istari or Wizards appeared in Middle-earth.
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This seems to me to be statement we would be contradicting by adopting his later change. If they appeared in Middle-earth only 1000 years into the Third Age, then to say that two had come almost 4000 years prior would certainly contradict this statement. In addition, as you have said, in every other source, Saruman is said to have been the first to arrive. Therefore, I think that the published Appendix B sentence prevents us from taking up Tolkien's proposed change.
As for the rest, much of the comments would depend on where we place the narrative in time, and so I will refrain from commenting until we solve the first question.