block
    statement (assignment)
      expression
        operator (post-increment)
          operator (dereference)
            variable
      expression
        variable

I don't think this could possibly be a valid AST for '*lwr++ = x' because the increment is not an operation on the dereferenced value, its an operation on the pointer. So in this case I don't see how it could help but be transformed into a form similar to the "beginner friendly" case.

Or perhaps I am wrong and it would generate an AST like you describe and rely on later passes to actually create a proper dependency graph. My mental model of how these kinds of postfix operators work always assumed it must very early on turn it into two separate statements. Thank you for the suggestions.