Friday morning WNBA links: NBA TV's 'Rookie Weekend', reaction to the Kayla Pedersen trade, Chante Black is back

If you head to WNBA.com today, you'll probably note that the coming weekend has been designated "Rookie Weekend" as NBA TV will be broadcasting games featuring seven of the top nine picks from the 2013 WNBA Draft.

Two of those games will take place on NBA TV today, with the San Antonio Silver Stars hosting the Seattle Storm at 8 p.m. EDT and the Phoenix Mercury host the Washington Mystics at 10 p.m. EDT.

This will make next week's statistics post looking at the league's top rookies look far better timed than it was really planned to be.

But we start with the Tulsa Shock and their trade of a former top eight pick in the draft, shortly after snapping a 3-game losing skid.

• Mike Brown of the Tulsa World recapped the Tulsa Shock's win over the Chicago Sky to end a 3-game losing streak in which the Shock appeared to come together a bit more, especially on defense as Elena Delle Donne noted after the game. He included a note about Epiphanny Prince's final line: while she scored 13 points, nine of those came on three 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the game. Read more >>>

• Brown also reports that Tulsa Shock CEO Steve Swetoha said that the team intends to re-sign Courtney Paris after trading forward Kayla Pedersen for a draft pick yesterday. He also believes that yesterday's trade of Kayla Pedersen to the Connecticut Sun could benefit both teams: Pedersen could receive more playing time while the Shock get back a 2014 pick that they had previously traded away. Read more >>>

• Jim Fuller of the New Haven Register reported on the Connecticut Sun's acquisition of Kayla Pedersen, noting that the 6'4" forward failed to score in 26 minutes of action in losses to Minnesota and Phoenix. Read more >>>

• Terrence Thomas of the San Antonio Express-News reports that Jayne Appel is out with a concussion, which is why former Tulsa center Chante Black appears on the San Antonio Silver Stars' roster as a reserve for tonight's game against the Seattle Storm. Danielle Adams is expected to start in Appel's place. Read more >>>

• Odeen Domingo of the AZCentral.com reports that "because the Mercury (3-4) want to protect the left knee injury she suffered earlier this month, her feet haven’t touched the hardwood often in the past three games." The Mercury have been restricting the 6-foot-8 rookie center to 15-23 minutes per game since she returned to action. Read more >>>

• Jayda Evans of the Seattle Times reports that Seattle Storm GM Brian Agler is not looking to make any roster changes as the team continues to win games with defense despite missing stars Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson. Evans also notes that this year's team is off to a much better start than the 2012 version that started the season 1-7. Read more >>>

• Phil Ervin of Fox Sports North takes a quick look around the league in advance of the Minnesota Lynx's game against the Los Angeles Sparks tonight, the first of three meetings in the next six games between the two teams currently sitting at the top of the Western Conference. Read more >>>

• Gene Wang of the Washington Post reports that women's basketball coaches in the DC-MD area appreciate the recommendations Val Ackerman, apparently the front-runner for the Big East's commissioner spot, has for NCAA women's basketball. Read more >>>
• Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports summarized the significance of the 2013 NBA Finals that concluded last night with the Miami Heat defeating the San Antonio Spurs: "As epic as these seven games had been – a Game 6 that'll be remembered as maybe the greatest Finals game – this series was a referendum on everything basketball ought to be at the highest level." Read more >>>
• Also, Liz Cambage has some thoughts on the name of Kanye West's new child.
  

anyway, can we talk about Kim and Kanye naming their baby North.... so North West, so wrong

— Elizabeth Cambage (@ecambage) June 21, 2013

Obviously there are other links bound to pop up around the web today that aren't listed here. Feel free to drop them in the comments, post a fan shot, or write a fan post if you have extended thoughts on a topic (and then drop the fan post in the comments).

Happy Rookie Weekend.