Rookie Jared McCain giving Sixers visions of what could be when ...

Jared McCain, a shining light amid the Sixers’ dreary start, was talking about his vision late Wednesday night, as well as his ability to visualize. About how he’s seeing the court better than ever, and how he has always envisioned things that never were and asked, Why not?

(With apologies to the late Bobby Kennedy for that last part. Not the brain-worm guy; his daddy.)

“I love visualizing everything,” the rookie guard said following his team’s latest loss, by a 114-106 count to unbeaten Cleveland. “I do visualization workouts. I think visualization is a huge key for my life.”

McCain visualizes the ball going through the net, naturally, but also little things — “like coming to a locker room after a win,” he said, “or coming out of the game with a smile … certain things I know that will help me be a better basketball player.”

He’s only 20, remember, and just out of Duke. But certainly he seems comfortable in his own skin, comfortable looking at the world through his own unjaded eyes.

He could only chuckle when he was asked whether he visualizes becoming a full-time starter, even though he had just put up 34 points and 10 assists in the first start of his career. And even though coach Nick Nurse indicated in his postgame remarks that that’s a possibility at some point.

“I just visualize winning basketball games and finding my role, man,” McCain said. “Whatever I can to help this team win, no matter what it is, I’m going to visualize that.”

If all of us want to play along, if all of us want to step back and look at the big picture, it’s not hard to see that there’s something there with this edition of the Sixers. It’s just that it’s scattered all over the place.

Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey all sat out Wednesday night, with varying degrees of physical distress. So too did Andre Drummond, with an illness. The JVs fought gallantly in their absence. Kelly Oubre Jr., Caleb Martin and Reggie Jackson made shots. Guerschon Yabusele made winning plays. And McCain was everywhere, drilling threes, working the mid-range, even finding the open man.

That last thing is what most enthused Nurse. It had become quite clear the rookie could score — this was his third straight game of 20 points or more — but could he share? He showed that yeah, maybe he can.

“That’s pretty fast learning, right?” Nurse said. “He’s getting a lot of shots up, but now (he’s exhibiting a) good feel for the game, playing the game the right way. So that was the most encouraging.”

McCain said he is in fact reading the defense far better than he had previously, and certainly he needed to do so Wednesday, seeing as Cleveland gave him a bunch of different looks. Even played a box-and-one on him at one point, per Nurse.

But he made the right play far more often than not. That was among the many things that made for an entertaining night, though it was ultimately an unfulfilling one, where the home team was concerned.

The Sixers, down three with three minutes left, saw Donovan Mitchell pour in 11 of his 23 points thereafter (including a trio of triples), as the Cavaliers improved to 13-0. They are the sixth team in NBA history to open a season in such brisk fashion.

The Sixers, meanwhile, fell to 2-9. Yes, there are 71 games left. Yes, they will get their Big 3 back someday. But at this point you’re gonna need one of McCain’s visualization workouts to find the silver lining.

Which, apparently, Martin has participated in.

“I think I see progress,” the veteran forward said after his 18-point night. “When things are going like they are now, you have to see things from a different perspective, and progress is one of the key things I’m looking at right now.”

History shows that his optimism is not completely unfounded. The 1977-78 Seattle SuperSonics (Google them, kids) started 5-17 and made the Finals. If that doesn’t move you, consider that the ‘21-22 Celtics were 16-20 but also made it to the championship round.

Lesser examples are the ‘21-22 Pelicans and the ‘96-97 Suns, who opened 1-12 and 0-13, respectively, but made the playoffs. Both lost in the first round, however.

So maybe the Sixers will see their way out of this yet. Maybe they will see the light. Maybe all they have to do is see things through the eyes of a 20-year-old.