The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly going to try to acquire youngsters Harrison Barnes and Hassan Whiteside if they fail to snag Kevin Durant from the Oklahoma City Thunder this coming offseason.

Basketball Insiders' Alex Kennedy mentioned Barnes and Whiteside as the players that LA should pursue in the coming free-agency period as they will both complement well with the Lakers young core of Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, D'Angelo Russell, and Larry Nance Jr.

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Whiteside will become an unrestricted free agent in the summer and is still young enough to grow with the current young crop of Lakers standouts. At 26 years old, he would still be an effective and dominating big man when Clarkson, Randle, and Russell reach their prime in five to six years from now.

LA badly needs to improve their defense as they are currently 26th in the league at the opponents' points per game category with 106.8, which is their primary weakness as of the moment. The 7-foot, 265-pound center could help a lot in that aspect especially in clogging the lane, blocking shots, and overall rim protection.

Meanwhile, Barnes is a 23-year-old wingman whose talents are arguably being wasted away playing behind the pecking order of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green in Golden State.

If the 2013 NBA All-Rookie First Teamer would get out of the trio's shadows and play a bigger role in a bigger market, then the Lakers is an ideal landing spot for him.

Barnes will become a restricted free agent this summer, which means it would not be that easy to sway him away from the Warriors as Whiteside would be to lure away from the Heat.

Another issue for Barnes is his recent poor performances, particularly poor shooting from the field, which will not help improve his trade value if he chooses to opt out of his contract this summer.

CSN Bay Area reported that the former North Carolina standout is "putting his future in jeopardy" with his current "frustrating stretch" of off-shooting form.

Barnes is said to be expecting a max or close to max offer when he hits free-agency and his recent inaccuracies may lead the Lakers, or other interested teams, to shy away from giving him the maximum contract he so desires. If that is the case, then the Warriors will be able to keep him for lower than his asking price.

TagsNBA Free-Agency Rumors, NBA Free-Agency Rumors 2016, Lakers free-agency rumors, Lakers Free-Agency Rumors 2016, Los Angeles Lakers, Harrison Barnes, Hassan Whiteside