Answer

Hello G.,
Why does one need to draw close to tradition? What is tradition, anyway? In my view it is clear that there is no value at all in drawing close to tradition except, at most, as a means of drawing close to the Holy One, blessed be He, and fulfilling His will.
There is no obstacle whatsoever to disagreeing with sages of earlier generations, and there is no holiness in their words. In the Kesef Mishneh at the beginning of chapter 2 of the Laws of Rebels, he explains that the Amoraim did not disagree with the Tannaim, and the medieval authorities did not disagree with the Talmud, only because we accepted upon ourselves not to disagree with them. After the Talmud, there is no authority that cannot be disputed (see Rosh on Sanhedrin, chapter 4, siman 6, and elsewhere). The reason we accepted this upon ourselves is because it is important to preserve our ability as a society to live together, eat at one another’s homes, marry one another, and also study Torah together—not because there is one uniquely correct opinion or because Jewish law is necessarily the most correct opinion. That is all.
Even so, tradition is a good means for understanding the meaning of sources, and therefore we customarily study the Mishnah through the Talmud, and the Talmud through the commentators. But precisely because of this, there is sometimes justification for bypassing the tradition if you are confident that you can understand those sources better on your own. Of course, this applies to the medieval and later authorities, but the Talmud itself cannot be bypassed, because it has binding halakhic authority.