New Jersey and Charlotte were close Tuesday night to finalizing a trade that would send guard Jeff McInnis from the Nets to the Bobcats for Bernard Robinson, multiple sources told ESPN.com.

The deal, which sources said had a strong chance of being finalized Wednesday, would solve one problem for the underperforming Nets -- getting them beneath the luxury tax threshold -- while still leaving them with a gaping hole in the middle following the season ending knee injury to center Nenad Krstic.

The Bobcats and Nets had discussed a trade that would have sent power forward Melvin Ely to New Jersey.

Instead, the Nets are willing to take back Robinson, a third-year swingman making the league minimum, because of the reduction it would bring to their nearly $67 million payroll. Under NBA rules, the players' salaries do not need to match because the Bobcats are well below the salary cap.