Versailles forced Germany through a broken destroyer development path

Did Germany move too quickly from small treaty destroyers to much larger prewar designs?

Yes, but the gap was largely imposed by Versailles, with Type 23 and Type 24 torpedo boats providing only a constrained intermediate step.

The jump from small Reichsmarine vessels to large prewar destroyers looks abrupt because Versailles interrupted normal development. Germany was limited to a small personnel establishment, six old battleships, six light cruisers, twelve destroyers, twelve torpedo boats, and no submarines. The Type 23 and Type 24 vessels filled part of the missing sequence but were restricted ships later described as torpedo boats. Designers therefore lacked the normal ladder of progressively larger operational destroyers. The problematic late designs grew from an institutional discontinuity rather than a single reckless size choice.