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Cooney: Sunny Sixers opener also partly cloudy

YOU EXPECTED it to be like one of those gorgeous days down the shore with the sun shining bright, not an ounce of humidity and a nice breeze blowing off the ocean, but a feeling in the back of your mind made it slightly less than perfect.

Joel Embiid.
Joel Embiid.Read moreCharles Fox / Staff Photographer

YOU EXPECTED it to be like one of those gorgeous days down the shore with the sun shining bright, not an ounce of humidity and a nice breeze blowing off the ocean, but a feeling in the back of your mind made it slightly less than perfect.

The lingering cloud Wednesday night for the 76ers' opener was in the Wells Fargo Center, his right foot stabilized by a boot. The bright sunshine was Joel Embiid. The packed arena was throbbing with an excitement that has brewed for years, and when Embiid totaled two points, three rebounds and a block in his first run of 4 minutes, 13 seconds, the disappointment of not seeing this year's No. 1 overall pick roaming the floor was put aside. At least momentarily.

The Oklahoma City Thunder began the season with questions of their own as Kevin Durant bolted for greener pastures with the Golden State Warriors. They still have one of the NBA's superstars in Russell Westbrook, who had 32 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists in OKC's 103-97 victory. He could very well be enough to carry them deep into the playoffs.

But as you looked, you couldn't help but wonder, "What if?" What if Ben Simmons was on the floor last night with Embiid? What if Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel were healthy to begin the season, as Okafor is on a 14- to 18-minute restriction and Noel is recovering from knee surgery that could keep him out for a couple of months. What if the player they deemed their starter at the point this offseason, Jerryd Bayless, was able to knock down jumpers consistently instead of nursing a ligament-damaged wrist?

When the Thunder entered the Wells Fargo Center Wednesday morning for their shootaround, the thought came to mind that if all those questions had positive answers, maybe the Sixers wouldn't be too far away from where Oklahoma City is - the Thunder with the departed superstar, the Sixers perhaps with multiple ones forthcoming.

Westbrook may be the game's best playmaker, with a combination of speed, quickness, strength and a competitive nature that few possess. The offense will never break down with him because he has such an incredible ability to create for himself.

At 6-10, with incredible ballhandling ability, elite passing skills and speed that rivals most point guards, Simmons will ease the necessity for coach Brett Brown to continuously call plays. Not to Westbrook's degree, but Simmons will be a premier creator. And he'll have the likes of Embiid and Okafor catching his hard-to-believe passes.

This summer, it seemed that this was going to be the season "The Process" finally came to fruition. But injuries negated that. For now.

"A part of this whole evolution is trying to build, ultimately, a playoff defensive mentality and a professionalism that it takes to be a playoff team," Brown said. "That growth started when I took the job trying to help establish routines. So tonight, fast forward three years starting my fourth year, to understand game plans, to understand what we're going to do as adjustments, to understand (Thunder center) Steven Adams, to understand that it's not at all just about Joe is here. It's that, but now let's get going. Part of the evolution of this program, apart from obviously developing our guys, is most definitely establishing a defensive identity and playoff habits. What does it take, ultimately, to play in the playoffs? And then we'll start to talk about stuff after that later. That's how I see everything, and especially Joel Embiid."

Talk about it "later." That's the overriding bad taste that soured an otherwise terrific night in which Embiid played 22 minutes and had 20 points (6-for-16, 7-for-8 at the line) and 7 rebounds. Sure, patience is the overpowering theme that around this organization, but you just couldn't help wonder what could have been - not only in the opener, but in the coming weeks and months and season.

Westbrook has to learn to live without Durant, Embiid without Simmons.

"The most important part is caring about other people and how they feel and how they're doing and how you can impact them and make them better," Westbrook said. "Part of my job is to make my teammates better, but not just that, making them confident about their game on a night-in, night-out basis. It's a process for a point guard."

A process? No one knows or talks about The Process more than Embiid. He's lived it for two years as a bystander and is now playing through it in his third season, with his sidekick of the future sidelined for at least another couple of months recovering from his foot fracture surgery.

Embiid soaked in all the adulation tossed his way on Wednesday, after he blocked a shot, when he made his first basket on a turnaround, fadeaway 16-footer, and when he swished a three-pointer from the top of the key. This was the night he and the city had been waiting for since he was taken with the third overall pick in 2014, shortly after he had surgery to repair his foot the first time.

It was everything all had imagined and hoped, and still, there was that "yeah, but" feeling.

"This wasn't the best part of the process," Embiid said. "I think the best part of the process is us as a team, coming down together and just start winning and obviously be a contender in the league and try to win a championship. I think that's the final part, when finally we go out together and we start winning."

For now, Simmons can only dream of his debut, which he firmly believes will be sometime this season.

"It was tough just knowing what happened, but I'll have my first game eventually," he said. "My time will come."

And so will the Sixers', it seems. Embiid's presence on the floor, at both ends, was intriguing enough to tantalize that thought. Simmons' return and a return to health by others may cement it.

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog