Whenever you ask David Kahn about convincing a notable free agent to come to cold, snowy Minnesota, he replies that legendary Northern winters are completely oversold.

So why are the Wolves heading Wednesday morning to Dallas for a game that will be played Friday night?

To give the players -- and the California-raised head coach, of course -- a break from the snow and the cold.

They did something similar before they played the Lakers in December and might do so for before a game at Miami later this month.

Such a habit could be used a small selling point to prospective free agents come next summer.

Kahn has said one of the benefits of playing in the far-flung Western Conference is it allows the team travel to warmer climes regularly all winter.

The Wolves, btw, are headed to Dallas, where showers are expected to arrive by Wednesday afternoon and where Thursday's forecast calls for 43 degrees and rain.

There was some grumbling in the team's locker room after Sunday night's victory over New York when players learned practice is scheduled every day this week even though there's four days -- an unusual stretch in the middle of the season -- between games this week, just one week before next weekend's All-Star break.

Kurt Rambis worked them hard for about two hours today after having a loose, light practice on Monday that lasted fewer than 45 minutes.

The team flies to Dallas in the morning and will practice there tomorrow and Thursday afternoons before facing the Mavericks for the second of four meetings this season, and for the first time since the Mavs won 89-77 at Target Center on Nov. 13.