Coach Ron Rivera received a text from Cam Newton immediately after the Carolina Panthers selected Maryland wide receiver D.J. Moore in the first round of the NFL draft that read: "Thank you!"

The Panthers gave Newton more help on offense Thursday night by selecting Moore 24th overall in hopes of upgrading a passing game that finished 28th in the league last season.

Moore was the first wide receiver taken in the draft.

Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said Moore's best quality is his ability to make plays after the catch.

"When he has the ball in his hands he turns into a running back Raiders Cheap Jerseys ," Hurney said. "He breaks tackles and makes big plays. And still he has the speed to stretch the defense and go deep. He runs good routes and has a lot of strengths."

Newton apparently took notice.

"Cam stays up on all of this stuff and he came right to us with all of the offensive guys," Rivera said. "He pays attention to it."

Newton isn't the only one high on Moore.

Steve Smith Sr., the Panthers all-time leader in most receiving categories, said he likes the toughness with which Moore approaches the game and thinks he can be a big time player.

"To be truthful, they have never been able to replace me" said Smith, now an analyst for the NFL Network.

Smith thinks Moore might finally be the receiver that can.

"You get that guy and you've got instant grits all day long," Smith said.

"For Steve to say that is high praise," Rivera said. "I'm pretty fired up. I believe D.J. is a guy who can come in and play all three of our wide receiver positions."

Moore is the latest skill position player selected early by the Panthers in the hopes of giving Newton more to work with on offense. Last year Carolina selected running back Christian McCaffrey in the first round and wide receiver Curtis Samuel in the second to take some of the pressure off Newton after he had a down season statistically in 2016.

"It was nice to know that whatever I did in college did not go unnoticed," Moore said.

Moore joins what is becoming a crowded wide receivers room in Carolina.

The Panthers traded with the Eagles for Torrey Smith and signed free agent Jarius Wright from the Vikings earlier this offseason. Devin Funchess returns as Carolina's No. 1 receiver after a breakout season in 2017 and Samuel hopes to battle back following an injury-plagued rookie season.

Moore said he had a good idea the Panthers were going to select him.

"It was a sigh of a relief when I saw North Carolina (area code) come up on my phone," Moore said. "I was like Authentic Customized Browns Jerseys , 'OK, this my pick.' They told me when I was on my draft visit they were going to (draft me), so they kept their promise."

Moore was the 2017 Big Ten Receiver of the Year and first-team all-conference selection. He had a school-record 80 receptions for 1,033 yards and eight touchdowns in 12 games last season for the Terrapins. He also led Maryland in receiving as a sophomore with 41 receptions for 637 yards and six touchdowns.

Rivera said Moore could also contribute right away as a returner in addition to playing wide receiver.

The 6-foot, 210-pound Moore said he feels like he can be a week one starter at wide receiver "if I put the work in."

Moore is the first draft pick chosen by Hurney's since 2012. Hurney was fired by the Panthers that year after conducting 11 drafts as GM, but returned to the team on an interim basis last summer and was hired full time in February.

Hurney said he didn't think Moore would drop to No. 24.

He said Moore reminds him a little of Smith.

"He has that play strength and that ability to break tackles and make yards after the catch," Hurney said. "That is a pretty high bar to set (comparing him to Smith) but there are a lot of things we liked about him.

The Panthers have made the playoffs in four of the past five seasons, but were knocked out in the first round last season by division foe New Orleans. The Saints swept all three games from Carolina, which made finding ways to match up better with them an offseason priority.

Carolina's offense stalled most of the season in 2017 and it was often the defense that had to bail them out.

The move comes on the same day the Panthers gave three-time Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen a two-year contract extension.

INDIANAPOLIS — With the Indiana Pacers unable to move up from the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference, the team will likely have a new look for the regular-season finale on Tuesday night against Charlotte.

For the Pacers to have reached the No. 4 spot Markus Wheaton Jersey Elite , the Cleveland Cavaliers had to lose back-to-back games to the New York Knicks. But after Cavs beat the Knicks on Monday night, Pacers coach Nate McMillan is expected to rest his starters and key reserves quite a bit against the Hornets.

Rest might be welcome thing.

“Yeah, I thought that they fought through some fatigue,” McMillan said of his players in Sunday’s 123-117 win at Charlotte. “Even though we won, I thought that we were flat for most of this game. We found a way to get some energy. I thought the bench came in and gave us a lot of energy and played well to help us get this win.”

Pacers center/forward Domantas Sabonis scored a career-high 30 points.

“My teammates were trusting me like always and I do my best to finish,” Sabonis told Fox Sports Indiana. “I love it here. It’s been a very fun year. I love my teammates, coaching staff and I’m just happy to represent Indiana.”

Sabonis averages 11.7 points and 7.7 rebounds.

“He’s always crashing the boards, plays well in the pick-and-roll, a very, very smart IQ guy Taven Bryan Jersey Elite ,” Pacers point guard Cory Joseph said.

After scoring below double figures for the first time all season Friday night with five points in a loss at Toronto, Pacers leading scorer Victor Oladipo bounced back with 27 points.

The Hornets were plagued by 22 turnovers, and Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said in four of the last five games turnovers have been the difference.

“I think we’re first or second in the NBA in taking care of the basketball, but four of the last five games we’ve had 17 or 18 turnovers, which is more product of playing more guys and something that you can live with,” he said. “So we did some good things. Those guys in the fourth quarter did a good job, so we’ll go there on Tuesday and see if we can put together longer periods of good play.”

Clifford said he will start thinking about the offseason later. After the Hornets won four in a row, they have lost five of the last six games.

“It’s been important to me that we play these games well so in nine of the last 10 we’ve been pretty good, competitive and organized,” he said. “So we’ve been putting just as much into these games as we have all year and frankly you worry about the next season in the next season.

“I want to win Tuesday and I want (the players) to Authentic Tanner Lee Jersey , too. So I haven’t even thought about stuff like that.”

Hornets rookie guard Malik Monk, who averages 6.5 points, has scored 20 or more points in the last three games.

Clifford said Monk has gotten better with his pick-and-roll game and has been more efficient offensively.

“The thing he is doing better is he’s making plays for other people,” Clifford said.

Clifford has noticed Monk’s assists-to-turnovers numbers have been solid recently as well.

“That to me is as much of an indicator as anything of the growth that he’s made in terms of learning how to play in a manner that both he can score and the rest of the guys can play well when he’s on the floor,” he said. “In this league at his size (6 feet 3), pick and roll is going to be a big part of it.”

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