The Los Angeles Lakers intend to waive DeMarcus Cousins to clear a roster spot for Markieff Morris, if he clears waivers on Sunday, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne.

Morris negotiated a buyout with the Detroit Pistons on Friday, leaving $4.3 million (the remainder of this season and his 2020-21 salary) on the table, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks.

Cousins, a popular player in the Lakers locker room, has missed the entire season with a torn ACL in his left knee. Earlier this season, the Lakers successfully applied for a disabled player exemption for Cousins, because the injury was expected to keep him out the entire season.

The disabled player exemption is worth $1.75 million, which is significantly higher than the prorated minimum of $694,702 the Lakers could offer a player who has been waived at this point of the season.

Morris, 31, has appeared in 44 games for the Pistons this season, averaging 11 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He's able to play both forward spots and is a good rebounder and defender. Over nine seasons, he's averaged 11.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 623 games.

Lakers coach Frank Vogel said over the All Star break there was a chance Cousins could return for the playoffs, but noted Thursday, "I'm not even sure where he's at with exactly what he's doing day-to-day. I just still know he's a long way away, but they've said they're not ruling out him returning."

Morris' twin brother, Marcus, plays for the crosstown rival LA Clippers.

"That's my brother man. Man, if he goes to LA, then I'm gonna be in Staples Center all the time. I think maybe to y'all it might be weird that I'm going to all his games, but that's what'll probably happen. And we'll probably get a house together.

"If one of us wins, we both win. That's how we look at it. Obviously, I'm a Clipper, I'd love to win, we're definitely gonna be competitors, but we're both gonna work hard. It'll probably be the first time where two players from two different teams are actually working out together. That's gonna be cool."

Cousins will likely not be waived until Sunday night after Morris clears waivers, Marks reports. Cousins has roughly $1 million left on his $3.5M contract. A claiming team would have non-bird rights and could offer him a contract up to $4.2M (or midlevel exception/cap space) as a free agent.

Cousins is a four-time All-Star with the Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans, Golden State Warriors and Lakers.

Houston Astros players have gotten threats "every day" since the team's 2017-18 sign-stealing scheme came to light in recent weeks, according to outfielder Josh Reddick, who said Friday that messages he has received also targeted his family.

"You just see the first things in your suggested box and it just says, 'I will kill your family. I will kill your kids. Blah blah blah,'" Reddick said. "It's depressing to read because it's over a game of baseball. It's not worth that kind of drastic measure."

Reddick, who did not take part in the trash-can banging scheme, said the threats he has received so far were limited to only social media. He spoke about his experiences one day after former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers, who revealed to The Athletic in November that the Astros were stealing signs in violation of MLB rules, said he had received death threats.

As he enters his 12th major league season and fourth with the Astros, Reddick said he expects to hear more from fans about the issue both on and off the field, to the point where he thinks "it could be very dangerous outside of the ballpark to even bring your family."

"There are ways to add security to a lot of places on the road whether it be in our hotels, on the way to the field," he said. "At the field, obviously, being a lot more hostile environment. Be a little crazier. I think, also, at the hotels because you see a lot of people line up at our hotels. They know where we stay, they know what times we usually go to the ballpark. And what time we get back.

"For me, myself having almost 5-month-old boys, it is going to be pretty scary because my wife is going to go want to come on a lot of road trips just because wanting to have my help in raising them and do our parenting thing. So it is definitely something you can think about every night."

Tony Clark, head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, met with the Astros in West Palm Beach, Florida, for nearly four hours Friday, then spoke to reporters.

Clark talked about the concerns of Houston's players, saying, "There are undoubtedly concerns out there based on some of the commentary. ... There's a heightened sense of concern to make sure that themselves and their families are protected.

"There's no doubt making sure that our players and their families are able to go to and from the ballpark and perform safely is a huge piece of the puzzle," he said.

Astros players won't necessarily be safe when the games begin, as pitchers such as the Cleveland Indians' Mike Clevinger and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Ross Stripling have hinted at the possibility of throwing at Houston batters.

Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout this week joined a long list of players who have been critical of the Astros' actions, saying he "lost some respect for some guys." Reddick said he didn't believe condemnation from opponents was adding fuel to the online threats, but he said he would like to see a more unified front in light of the messages.

"I think the best situation for us is to have our families be safe and ourselves be safe," Reddick said. "But yeah, I think player unity is going to be a big thing. Especially with the way things are going now and way things will be in a couple of years to renegotiate stuff. I think that is one way the players need to get united. I think the more we are one on the same page and united it is going to be better for the whole game. It may take time the way this thing is being handled right now. I think ultimately the family safety is a big issue right now."

For now, Reddick said his plan to deal with the most egregious messages is largely to "just avoid clicking on it," but he still gets angry when he sees people threatening his children.

"I put a post of my kid rolling over for the first time and I gotta look down there and see 'I hope your kid gets cancer,'" Reddick said. "It makes you really want to see that person in person. Really makes you want to go up to him and see what they would do if you put your face to their face and really get a little bit of retribution for yourself. Pisses you off."

LAS VEGAS – After an early showing of speed with a pole qualifying effort at Daytona Int’l Speedway, Myatt Snider’s weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway got off to a rough start on Friday afternoon.

Snider was forced to a backup car for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Boyd Gaming 300 following a crash less than 30 minutes in to the lone practice session for the series at the 1.5-mile oval.

The 25-year-old was coming through turns three and four when the back end of his No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro stepped out, sending Snider spinning down the track and into the frontstretch grass.

At that point, the front end of Snider’s Camaro dug into the grass, causing heavy damage to the car as it skidded to a halt.

Snider was checked and released from the infield care center, but the front end of his car was too mangled to repair. The team will utilize the car scheduled to be driven by Anthony Alfredo next weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., as its backup for the remainder of the event.

After exiting the medical center, Snider took full responsibility for the incident.

“I’m not sure what happened, but that one’s my fault,” Snider noted. “We had a fast car, and I was just trying to feel it out. Obviously, this is my first mile and a half (track race) in an Xfinity car, so it’s pretty different. That’s on me for not recognizing what differences (between the Trucks and Xfinity cars) there might be.

“It’s just a shame that we have to pull out a backup this early; I’ve got to be better than that,” Snider added. “We’ll have a good car for the race, though.”

Saturday’s event may be Snider’s first start at Las Vegas in an Xfinity Series car, but he does have three NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series appearances in Sin City, with a best finish of sixth in 2018.

Last week in the Daytona season opener, Snider led 22 laps from the pole before being collected in an accident coming to the end of the second stage that eliminated his No. 21 Camaro from the event.

Ross Chastain led Friday’s Xfinity Series practice session, less than a week after failing to qualify at Daytona and replacing Jeff Green in the RSS Racing No. 38 for the race.

Chastain turned a lap of 30.529 seconds (176.881 mph) around the 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval, with Brandon Brown, Chase Briscoe, Brandon Jones and Justin Allgaier filling out the top five on the speed charts.

Qualifying for the Boyd Gaming 300 is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, live on FOX Sports 1.

TOLEDO, Ohio – Ken Schrader has raced a lot of things, but on May 29 at Toledo Speedway he’ll drive something he’s never driven before.

Schrader will climb behind the wheel of a school bus on May 29 to participate in the school bus figure 8 race at Toledo Speedway. That day just so happens to also be his 65th birthday.

The Fenton, Mo., native found his way to Daytona in 1980 and has competed in NASCAR, ARCA and USAC-sanctioned events during a lengthy career. He has sat on the pole for the Daytona 500, has won the Duel races at that same track and has four wins and 23 poles to his credit on NASCAR’s Cup Series.

Schrader is a fan favorite at Toledo, where he captured the win in the ARCA event at the Glass City oval in 2013. He was a champion car owner on the ARCA Menards Series in 1999 and 2017. Schrader also is a partner in the ownership of Federated Auto Parts Speedway in Pevely, Mo. Schrader also does promotional appearances for Federated Auto Parts throughout the year, with ride and drives with his dirt modified and dirt late model, where he also competes in those classes to this day. Schrader is also slated to race in the Little 500 for non-winged sprint cars at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway the week prior to the Toledo event.

The Monroe Superstore School Bus Figure 8 race presented by Great Clips will feature full-size school bus racing on the Figure 8 course at Toledo May 29. The popular event has brought huge crowds to the speedway the past several years. In addition to the School Bus event, the ARCA R&M Recycling Late Model Sportsman will battle on the big half-mile paved oval, while the quarter-mile short track action will be provided by the ARCA Victory Lane Quick Oil Change Figure 8’s and the Vault Antiques and Treasures ARCA Factory Stocks. Several additional fun events include a Boat Figure 8 Race, the Flag Pole race, Backup race and the new Butterfly race.

Tickets will go on sale next month for the event, as well as for several of the special events on the Toledo schedule. Race time is 7:30 p.m. on Friday evening, May 29. A rain date of Sunday evening, May 31 at 5:30 p.m. has been set if needed.