Crawford's Tweet Indicates Desire to Leave Team

We're all used to emo Jamal by now, with his cryptic tweets full of ellipses. It always happens in the offseason and around the trade deadline, and people jump to conclusions that he's on his way out, or is a malcontent, or something else that's kind of silly to assume off of 140 vague characters.

But this new one takes the cake:

"@ThatGuy_Sammie: @JCrossover sooo you gonna stay a clipper or join the cavs? ��"-I'm not a f/a, wish but I'm not.. Soo u gotta ask Doc.....

— Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) July 17, 2015

The fan asks Jamal if he is going to join the Cavaliers, which is based off of rumors that he could be Cleveland's targeted replacement for J.R. Smith, should Smith choose another team in free agency. In return, Cleveland would send out Brendan Haywood. The Clippers do not have enough salary to send out (after waiving Lester Hudson) to take back Brendan Haywood's contract, but if Haywood went to a third team, and the third team sent something of value to the Clippers, a deal could still get done.

This is different from normal Jamal tweets — it's not a vague "smh" hours before the trade deadline, it's an outright statement. In non-twitter English, this would read:

"Jamal, are you going to stay a Clipper or join the Cavaliers?"

"I'm not a free agent.  I wish I was, but I'm not, so you have to ask Doc."

I wish I was.

That's about as close as we can get to confirming that Crawford is discontent. I've long been an advocate of moving the 35-year-old two-time 6th Man of the Year for a player who is a better fit on the roster, but I've also been adamant about keeping Crawford unless the return package brings equal on-court value. Hopefully the Clippers can either get a deal done, or Jamal can reconcile himself with a smaller role and another year as a part of a franchise that's been trying to trade him for most of his time here. Otherwise, this situation could turn sticky in a hurry.