Issue Number 5 htps://www.somersschools.org/Page/11489 Fall 2020 Have a Terrific (Safe) Thanksgiving!

Editor’s Note: In the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, for this issue of the Tusker Tribune, we asked our writers what they would do if they could make up their own holiday. . . . Read on to find out!

By Kate Seeger their children. So, for a few days, Tusker Tribune Staff parents should spend time with If I were to invent a their children not doing anything holiday it would be all else put hanging out with your about children. children. I would call this Child’s For example, the parents Day. I would invent this because can take the kids to a park, muse- some kids around the world never ums, planetariums, movies what- get to get a holiday all about them ever the kid likes! The people who and, so kids just want to spend a do not have children should whole day alone with their par- spend it with underprivileged ents. children doing the same thing. Children’s parents now I think just things like must work all day or do some- that can really go a long way and thing else and they never have time to spend with you will make a child’s day.

By Juliet Gherardi By Vince Pomponi Tusker Tribune Staff Tusker Tribune Staff If I could invent a new holi- If I were to in- day, I would celebrate it by spend- vent a new holiday, it ing more time with your family. would I would call the holiday Special be called Son Family Day. I think it would be nice to Day. have this holiday because we should spend I would more time with our families! celebrate that I also think this would be a great holiday by holiday because, do we even spend enough making all about the parent’s time with our family members? Even son or sons, so the kids get all though we are going through tough times right now, you can still the attention. visit your family! You can take a walk with them; you can watch If we have a Father’s an outdoor movie with them. Day and Mother’s Day, why not That is why I think we should have this holiday! a Son Day? The Tusker Tribune Page 2 The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School

Resident Evil or Roblox Would be Great Games to be Trapped In!

By Giuliana Baldo there are clones of her. Tusker Tribune Staff In Roblox, it’s basically a If I could be stuck game where it has a bunch of other inside a video game, I games that people create and build would probably want to be in “Roblox Studio”. I have been play- stuck in either the game “Resident ing Roblox since August 28, 2016. I Evil” or “Roblox” because first, in would never get bored of it because Resident Evil, I have seen the there are thousands of games on it. movies, but my dad, when he was You could also play with oth- a kid, used to play it and for him er people, so basically there are pub- to beat one level it took him 11 lic servers. You could create private hours! servers too, and if you’d like, you can But if I was stuck in it, I “friend” people so you could join would basically live there you them later if you want. could say, and Alice would hope- If I was stuck in it, I would fully protect me, Alice is very fast, probably join some of my favorite and very strong, and if she died, games and play with other people. she would come back because

Subnautica Would All in All, I’d Rather Be a Dolphin! By Juliana Maffei Be A Good Game To Tusker Tribune Staff If I had to choose between being a dolphin or a Live In snake, I would rather be a dolphin. Firstly, dolphins have By Peter Brennan the whole ocean to travel. They can go anywhere they Tusker Tribune Staff would like, and they have an unlimited amount of space. If I was stuck in a They can swim and jump whenever and wherever they would like. video game, it would It would be so fun to be able to have all the space to yourself to Definity be Subnautica, swim and jump around. because it's one of my favorite Secondly, everyone loves dolphins because they are consid- games. ered cute and friendly. People usually get so excited when they see It takes place on an un- them. Thirdly, dolphins can get their food easily. They are carni- known planet. Your ship has vores that eat a variety of fish, squid, jellyfish, octopii, and more. crash-landed on There are many fish in the sea, therefore, it and the when they are hungry, they can just open planet’s crust is their mouths and eat a fish when they see submerged by some. water. Lastly, dolphins have incredible in- The en- telligence and speed so they can get away tire game is from predators easily. In fact, dolphins can taking place in scare away sharks by swimming in groups. the water and I would not want to be a snake for you must sur- many reasons. Those reasons would be because most humans do vive among the fish and build a not like snakes. When they see them, they get scared and disgust- rocket to escape. That’s why I ed. Who would want someone doing that when they see you? I would want to be trapped in that know they can get their food fast due to slithering and their in- game because there’s so much credibly sharp fangs, but I would not like to get my food by suffo- more to the game than you’d cating another animal. Also, it’s sometimes hard for a snake to get think. food because their prey might be too fast. Lastly, snakes do not have arms or legs, so they must slith- er around everywhere. I would rather have arms and legs to be able to do more things. In conclusion, I would rather be a dolphin than a snake.

EDITOR NOTE: Read the Opposing View on Page 5 The Tusker Tribune Page 3 The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School The NBA is BACK and Already On Fire!

By Benji Cutler who has good potential to be a nice player. They Tusker Tribune Staff also get two young guards in Jerome and Lecque The NBA season will officially start who aren’t good now, but you can develop them on December 22, and this week will proba- into good role players off the bench. Since OKC bly be the biggest week of the offseason! will begin rebuilding, I think this was the best There have been plenty of trades which began on move you can make when it comes to getting rid Monday, November 16, the Draft was Wednesday, of Chris Paul. For Phoenix, they get an All-Star November 18, and Free Agency starts today! I point guard for at least 2 seasons, since he only have so much to talk about such as my opinion on has two more years on his contract. He will be re- the big trades and the top 5 draft picks, so let’s tiring pretty soon, but for now, CP3’s experience get into it. and leadership will really help young stars Devin On Sunday, we did get reports that Dennis Booker and become better players Schroder from the OKC Thunder would be getting than before and will change the culture in Phoe- traded to the for Danny nix. The Suns haven’t made the Playoffs since Green and the 28th overall pick in the 2020 Draft. 2010, but that will most likely change with Paul, I think this is a great move for the Lakers and an and that will give Booker a reason to feel confi- OK move for OKC. LA gets a true starting point dent to stay in Phoenix and help them become a guard that can replace if he decides better team. to leave, and that can put up 20 PPG no doubt. The next trade on Monday was Robert Schroder was second in the of the Year Covington of the being traded to voting last season and will definitely help the the for Trevor Ariza, Port- Lakers try to repeat this season with another land’s 2020 first-round pick and Portland’s 2021 championship. For OKC, they get Danny Green protected first-round pick. I think this is also a who they used in a bigger trade on Wednesday, great trade for both teams. For Portland, they get which I will talk about, and a pick that is very low one of the best role players in the league in Cov- in the first round, but if the Thunder organization ington who will play the 3 or the 4, and will bring plays their cards right, they could select a young a great amount of defense and shooting to the player who will help OKC in the future. Blazers. The Blazers had the 4th worst defensive To start off the week and the official trade rating in the entire league last season, so defense season, on Monday, we had some huge and some is their biggest weakness by a mile. So bringing in interesting trades. We had some not as huge Covington will help Damian Lillard, CJ trades, however, like from the De- McCollum and the Blazers have a better chance of troit Pistons to the for Dznanan making a great playoff run. For Houston, it is al- Musa and a 2021 second-round pick, but besides most guaranteed that they will be trading their that, the rest of the trades were at least kind of two stars, Russell Westbrook and , big. I will list all of them and go over how I feel so they will be going into rebuild mode. So getting about them for both teams. two first-round picks from not even one of their The first big trade on Monday was best players will definitely help in the long run of OKC Thunder All their rebuild. They did trade Ariza and the 2020 -star Chris Paul 1st round pick which was the 16th pick in a later being expectedly trade. traded to the The next two trades had to do with the Phoenix Suns same team, but let’s talk about the first one for along with Abdel now. So the first trade the Milwaukee Bucks Nader for Ricky made late Monday night was sending Eric Rubio, Kelly Bledsoe, , the 2020 first-round pick Oubre Jr., Ty Je- (via Ind), 2024 first-round pick which they can rome, Jalen Lec- swap, 2025 first-round pick unprotected, 2026 que and a 2022 first-round first-round pick. I think this a great trade for both pick which teams, and here’s why. For the Thunder’s side, they also can general manager Sam Presti has said he wants to swap, and the go down the path of stacking up on draft picks 2027 first- and rebuilding off those players, similar to Danny round pick un- Ainge and the . The Thunder now protected to have 17 first round picks in the next 7 years, the New Orle- which by the way, is absurd! They also get a great ans Pelicans young small forward in Kelly Oubre who can real- for Jrue Holi- ly help Shai-Gilgeous Alexander in OKC. They day. also get a veteran point guard in who was used in a later trade for Aleksej Pokusevski Continued on Page 4 The Tusker Tribune Page 4 The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School I think this is a great trade for the Thunder and NBA also a good trade for the Sixers. For Philly, they From Page 3 get rid of ’s HUGE and overpaid con- tract which they’ve been wanting to do since he Alright, now that I finally named all those was disappointing this season. They also get Dan- draft picks, let’s talk about the trade. For Milwau- ny Green who is a fabulous shooter and defender. kee, they get a great veteran who will be their pri- He will be perfect for the Sixers bench, since shoot- mary ball handler, which they desperately needed, ing was by far their biggest weakness. They also and a guy that fits perfectly with back-to-back get who is young and definitely MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. He brings play- has some potential. making, defense, scoring, he will really push the We had some small trades on Draft night Bucks over the top to have an amazing chance at here and there, but the next big one was a 3-team winning the championship. They have to hope they trade between the Brooklyn Nets, win the championship this year since and LA Clippers. Brooklyn gets Landry Shamet is on an expiring contract and Giannis is also a from LA, Detroit gets Rodney McGruder from LA free agent, however. For New Orleans, they get a and the draft rights to from Brooklyn, solid point guard in Eric Bledsoe that can help and the Clippers get Luke Kennard from Detroit. I bring leadership to the young locker room which think this is a bad trade for the Nets and a good includes Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and trade for the Pistons and Clippers. For Brooklyn, Lonzo Ball. They also got George Hill who they they give up Saddiq Bey just for Landry Shamet. might waive, but he is a solid backup guard if they Shamet is a great shooter don’t get me wrong, but keep him. But the main part of the trade for the he can only do that. Bey has great potential to be a Pelicans was the 5 first round picks, including two good role player in this league, so I don’t know why swap picks which means if the Pelicans have the they gave up Bey just to get Shamet back. For De- 30th pick and the Bucks have the 1st, the Pelicans troit, although they gave up Luke Kennard, he have the right to swap picks with the Bucks! Jrue was going through some injuries and never really Holiday is a great player, but he’s not worth al- helped the Pistons too much due to his injuries. most the same number of draft picks as the Peli- They get back Saddiq Bey who I already said has cans got for superstar ! I think New great potential, and Rodney McGruder who can Orleans won this trade, but if Milwaukee even bring some shooting off the bench. For the Clip- makes the Finals, this is a great move to have pers, they get Kennard who still has some poten- Giannis stay in Milwaukee. tial if he stays healthy and only gave up Shamet The next trade the Milwaukee Bucks made and McGruder who weren’t great players. wasn’t as big, but still a solid trade for both teams. The last big trade was the Dallas Maver- The main player in this trade, Bogdan Bogdanovic, icks acquiring Josh Richardson and the draft will be testing free agency, but if he accepts the rights to and the ac- sign-and-trade, the Bucks will get Bogdan Bogda- quiring . This is a good trade for Dallas novic and Justin James from the Sacramento and a great trade for Philly. Philly gets another Kings for Donte DiVincenzo, DJ Wilson, and Ersan great shooter that can take Richardson’s spot in Ilyasova. I think this is a good trade for both the starting lineup and really help the starting teams, but I think Milwaukee won the trade by a lineup and the team in general since little bit. They got a great, young, talented shoot- and need to have shooters around ing guard or small forward that can shoot it very them. The Mavericks already have great shooting well and in general, score the ball with ease. Bog- in Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis and even Maxi danovic rounds out the Bucks’ starting lineup very Kleber, so they don’t need shooting as much as nicely and can help the Bucks in the future. And Philadelphia does. Richardson brings great de- by the way, Justin James won’t get any minutes, fense to help Doncic in the backcourt, so I think so he doesn’t matter. For Sacramento, they get a that will be a great fit in Dallas. They also get Ty- great young player in DiVincenzo who has great ler Bey who definitely has some potential. potential to be possibly an All-Star in the future. As you can tell, this was a huge week for trades. I He can be a great scorer playing alongside young will now go over how I feel about the top 5 draft rising stars DeAaron Fox and Marvin Bagley III. picks and how the players will help or not help Ilyasova is finishing his career, but he can be a sol- their new teams. id big man off the bench. DJ Wilson won’t get With the 1st many minutes, but he can be developed into a solid pick, the Minnesota backup big man. It really is hard to say who won Timberwolves se- this trade because DiVincenzo and Bogdanovic lected Anthony aren’t even near their primes yet. Edwards. I As you could see, there were more trades thought they were that had to do with players that were already trad- going to take ed. The first one was the Philadelphia 76ers trad- LaMelo Ball, but I ing Al Horford, the 34th pick in the draft which wanted them to take Edwards because I think this was Theo Maledon, the 76ers 2025 first-round pick was the perfect move! and the draft rights to Vasilije Micic to the OKC Thunder for Danny Green and Terrance Ferguson. Continued on Page 5 The Tusker Tribune Page 5 The Student Newspaper of Somers Middle School

in Charlotte. NBA With the 4th pick, From Page 4 the Chicago Bulls selected I’d Rather Be a Snake! Patrick Williams. Now In the backcourt, By Emily Mladenovic this was a big surprise to Tusker Tribune Staff D’Angelo Russell and An- many people including me thony Edwards will both I would rather be a snake because no one had Wil- because snakes are the predator in provide great offense and liams going so early. I Edwards will provide the wild. Dolphins also live in the don’t have a lot to say ocean and I am very afraid of the great defense which was about him because I was- what the Timberwolves ocean. n’t expecting him to be in One reason why I want to be a snake needed. Edwards, Russell the top 5, but he is a small and Karl-Anthony Towns is because snakes are big and they can forward who is very ath- swallow almost everything in one piece so it will be an exciting young letic and a nice defender, team to watch and can wouldn’t be hard to live with other ani- and that’s what Chicago mals . definitely make some needed in a wing, so he noise in a few years. Another reason Is that they are very nd could definitely be a good quiet reptiles so they can barley be heard, With the 2 pick, fit for them the so it’s easier to With the 5th pick, kill their prey. selected . the I think this is also a great Snakes are al- selected . This so very danger- fit! Sadly, Warriors All- was also a surprise since star Klay Thompson will ous to be and Deni Av- around be- be out for the rest of the dija were still on the season with an Achilles cause they can board, and I was a little slither up right injury, but when he comes disappointed since I am a back, they will have an behind you Cavs fan. But thinking (while you don’t know) and give you a really amazing chance at win- about it more, this was ning the championship. tight hug, and kill you. actually a pretty good se- One reason why I wouldn’t want to A rim protecting lection. The Cavs were the center that is a decent be a dolphin is because they are soft (too worst defensive team in nice) creatures, and when others come passer and a decent shoot- the league last year and er was what Golden State around me, they want to touch or swim Okoro is the best defen- with me and I wouldn’t want to be touched needed, and now they got sive player in the 2020 it with Wiseman. by someone who I don’t know. rd class. The Cavs needed a Another reason why I wouldn’t want With the 3 pick, small forward the most the Charlotte Hornets se- to be a dolphin is they live with a bunch of and Okoro is a small for- bigger animals in the ocean so its easier to ward. His jump shot is get killed. I do know that the way they sur- questionable, but the de- vive is by hitting the animal with there fense is the main part of stomachs and that kicks the air out of the his game and that will be animal. But they also have whales or other a huge help to Cleveland’s big creatures in the ocean. future. So to summarize, this week was the biggest week of the offseason, and there still weren’t as many big trades as we thought there would be such as lected LaMelo Ball. I The Tusker Tribune is the online Somers Middle School Stu- don’t think this is as good lottery pick trades or dent Newspaper. It is published weekly (except during school James Harden and Rus- vacations) on the Somers Middle School Website. It is entirely as a pick, but come on. It’s student-written by 6th, 7th and 8th grade students from: the Charlotte Hornets sell Westbrook trades! Somers Middle School, 250 Route 202, Somers, NY, USA. I could’ve made Any SMS student is eligible to write stories. we’re talking about. They If interested, please e-mail Advisor Dean Pappas at need an exciting player this article twice its size [email protected] there, and LaMelo Ball is but I already made it big exactly that. He will turn enough. We still have so this franchise around, much ahead of us this off- bring popularity to North season such as more Carolina and maybe some trades, free agency, and more rumors. Reporters other stars to play with Kate Seeger him. It’s not as easy to tell The season literally Juliet Gherardi how Ball will play because starts in a month! That is Juliana Maffei crazy! Anyway, see you in Peter Brennan he is a boom or bust play- Giuliana Baldo er. So we’ll see what his two weeks! Benji Cutler future has in store for him Emily Mladenovic