Ryan Gomes

Wearing number 4, Gomes was expected to play off the bench in his rookie season spelling Celtics star Paul Pierce. His playing time and statistical impact were limited early in the season. However, on January 26, 2006, the Celtics executed a multiplayer trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves that freed up roster space for Gomes to play. Soon after that, fellow Celtic Kendrick Perkins was injured and Gomes was inserted in the starting line-up.

After becoming a starter, Gomes excelled, and kept his job even after Perkins returned. On February 24, 2006 he collected 17 rebounds and scored 13 points in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers.[3] Gomes scored at least 10 points in 21 of the 29 games he started in 2006, and in 7 of those games he also had a double-double. The second half of his rookie season was a definite success.

Gomes was named to NBA All-Rookie Second Team for the 2005–06 season,[4] and chose to play in the Celtics' 2006 NBA summer-league team. Gomes was named to the summer league all-first team for the second consecutive year.

Gomes continued to make a significant impact starting 60 games for the Celtics in the 2006–07 season. Gomes averaged more than 30 minutes played, scoring 12.1 points per game, along with 1.6 assists and 5.6 rebounds. On November 8, 2006 Gomes recorded his first career triple-double collecting 10 points, 12 rebounds, and a career-high 10 assists against the Charlotte Bobcats in the Celtics' first win of the 2006–07 season after an 0–3 start.[5] On January 20, Gomes scored a career-high 31 points in a January 20, 2007 overtime loss to the Washington Wizards.[6] Coming off the bench on March 4, Gomes tied his career-high of 17 rebounds and scored 21 points while playing a total of 52 minutes in a double overtime victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves.[7]

On March 7, Gomes sprained his left foot and did not play in the second half of the game against the Houston Rockets. He sat out the following 7 games, and returned to the Celtics' roster playing limited minutes beginning on March 21. Near the end of the season, Gomes began regularly shooting three-point shots, making 14 of 34 in April, after shooting only 5 for 17 in his career to that point.

Gomes attracted the attention of the national media for comments he made following a Celtics' loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on April 13. Neither Gomes nor starting point guard Rajon Rondo played in the game's final, decisive minutes. After, Gomes said, "I probably (would have played), but since we were in the hunt for a high draft pick, of course things are different." This was the first public comment by a Celtic in 2007 implying that the team was losing games purposely, to improve their status for the 2007 NBA draft.[8]

Gomes visiting Seeds of Peace in July 2007

On July 31, 2007, Gomes was traded along with Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, and draft picks, to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett.[9] On January 21, 2008, Gomes scored a career high 35 points against the Golden State Warriors in a 109–108 win.[10] Gomes played in all 82 Timberwolves games in 2007–08, starting 74 of them, and he averaged 12.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game.

Gomes also played in all 82 games in the 2008–09 season in which he set a career high in points scored per game (13.3).

On June 24, 2010, Gomes was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers with the draft rights to Luke Babbitt for Martell Webster. Gomes was waived by Portland on June 29, 2010.[11]

On July 8, 2010, Gomes was signed by the Clippers.[12] He was waived by the team on July 17, 2012, via the amnesty clause.[13]

On November 22, 2012, Gomes signed with the Artland Dragons of Germany's Basketball Bundesliga.[14][15]

On August 7, 2013, Gomes signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder.[16]

On January 7, 2014, a three-team trade was completed between the Thunder, the Boston Celtics, and the Memphis Grizzlies. Oklahoma City traded Gomes to Boston in exchange for second round draft picks in 2014 and 2017 from the Grizzlies; he was subsequently waived by the Celtics. As part of the transaction, the Grizzlies also traded Jerryd Bayless to the Celtics in exchange for Courtney Lee.[17]

On September 11, 2014, Gomes signed with Laboral Kutxa of Spain.[18] On October 27, 2014, he parted ways with Laboral Kutxa, after playing only one game in the ACB League.[19]

On January 7, 2016, Gomes was acquired by the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League.[2] Over the course of the 2015–16 season, he scored in double figures 28 times, including two 30-plus-point outings, and recorded nine double-doubles. He subsequently earned NBA D-League Impact Player of the Year[20] and led the D-Fenders to the D-League Finals where they were defeated 2–1 by the Sioux Falls Skyforce. In 40 games for the D-Fenders, he averaged 18.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. At the season's end, he was named to the All-NBA D-League Third Team.[21]