Who will fill Phoenix Suns' fifth starting spot alongside Kevin Durant?

The Suns have had 22 different starting lineups this season thanks to a host of injuries.

The original Big 3 starters — Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton — have been back together healthy since the Suns' Feb. 7 win in Brooklyn. They’ll soon be a Big 4 after Kevin Durant becomes available, whenever that is after this weekend’s All-Star break.

Following the blockbuster trade that sent two starters, Cameron Johnson and Mikal Bridges, to the Nets for Durant on Feb. 8, there will be a fifth spot to fill at power forward for the Suns' remaining 22 games and the postseason.

Torrey Craig and Josh Okogie started together for the first time this season in Phoenix’s past two games, against the Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings. They’re making strong cases to keep that four-man spot or take it from their production over the season and the past month, respectively.

“I kinda look at it as a day-to-day basis. Coach (Monty Williams) decided to start me last game or two days ago, that day I was like okay, I am going to do what I can this game,” Okogie said Thursday. “Do what I can the game after that, and today I was going to do what I can today.

“I don’t really like looking toward the future, sometimes we do that and forget to be in the present. I just take each game day-by-day. Coach has to make his decision, but I can control what I can control by going out there playing free to the best of my ability.”

But it’s a question of what the Suns will need more of in that four-man spot for offense or defense.

They’ll have more than enough offensive firepower once Durant, Booker and Ayton get together, with Paul running the point.

But there will be a need to fill the void left by Bridges, who was their best defensive player.

Craig and Okogie both are great at driving the ball downhill, they’re solid finishers on the break and cause turnovers via steals and blocks.

Also, both Craig and Okogie have similar offensive ratings this season at 115.8 and 113.9, and defensive ratings of 112.9 and 111.1, respectively.

“I’m pretty sure the coaches will figure it out. The same with the second unit, don’t know how it’s gonna look either. So I guess you’ll have to wait and see,” Craig said.

At 6-foot-7, Craig is a 3-and-D specialist who has the strength, length and quickness to guard all five positions.

At 6-foot-7, Craig a 3-and-D specialist who has the strength, length and quickness to can guard all five positions.

Craig is having a career-best in several categories — 7.8 points per game, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists (third-best on the Suns) and shooting 40.3% from deep. He’s started in 47 of the Suns’ 60 games, including 37 Johnson missed through Jan. 19 with a torn meniscus.

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“Just whoever I’m guarding, making it tough on them, not letting them get in a rhythm and trying to take them out the game,” Craig said. “Whether it’s Kawhi Leonard or (Detroit Pistons forward Bojan) Bogdanovic or any big wing, any stronger wing or guard that I’m guarding, I’m trying to minimize them as much as I can and make the other guys try to score.”

Craig added that he looks to “rebound, defend, bring energy, anything I can to try and affect the game.” Offensively, he focuses on ‘just picking my spots, knocking down open shots, just trying to be aggressive, play with confidence, shoot with confidence.”

Craig has had several games this year scoring in double figures and hitting high field goal percentages.

But during Thursday’s game, Craig kept Leonard scoreless on 0-of-9 shooting through the third quarter’s five-minute mark. The two-time finals MVP didn’t hit his first field goal until a minute later in that period before the Suns’ lost to the Clippers. Leonard finished with 16 points, hitting just 5-of-18 from the floor and 10 rebounds.

Craig finished with six points, hit two 3s, and had six rebounds.

“Torrey did a great job. He kept his hands on him,” Williams said. “In the third quarter, (Leonard) was going away from the trap and that got us in a little bit of trouble, a couple calls didn’t go our way. I thought Torrey, the physicality that he showed tonight was impressive. He was fighting through screens and he stayed in front of the ball.”

Okogie, a 6-foot-4 wing, is averaging 6.2 points on 42% shooting, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists in his first year with the Suns. But his numbers have spiked since the start of February, and he has been gaining more confidence in the offense.

Okogie’s role has increased from spot minutes off the bench at the start of the season, 1.5 points and 7.5 minutes per game through November, to 8.3 and 19 through December, to 17.4 and 32.6 over the past five games. He’s also shooting 51.7% from deep and overall.

Against the Clippers, Okogie was Phoenix's leading scorer for most of the game and ended with a team-high 24 points, including a game-high six 3s, five rebounds, and three steals.

“Unbelievable man, just stepping up big,” Booker said about Okogie after Thursday’s game. “Teams are trying to force the ball to him, and he is making them pay every single time. We are going to stick with that, we are all healthy going into the break and we are going to do what coach says, fill our cup up and get ready for the last stretch of the season."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Who will fill Phoenix Suns' 5th starting spot alongside Kevin Durant?