Has anyone heard of moving the shift buttons off the wheel and onto a switch so that it's easier to change gears when the wheel is turned/while the wheel is turning? Not even anything fancy just disconnecting the wires from the buttons and connecting them to a little rally-esque sequential shift lever?

 

Yes.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...-2-days-3.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/bui...-2-0-a-14.html

 

The buttons simply ground the circuit to initiate the shift. You'll just need to tap into the wires somewhere before the clockspring and route them to your switch.