The Boston Celtics have been a hot topic during the offseason, particularly in the aftermath of the Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis departures. Recently, a trio of analysts pushed for the team to retain one of the pieces they acquired in the Holiday trade.On last week's episode of Celtics Beat, the group of Evan Valenti, Bobby Manning and Adam Kaufman discussed whether the team should keep Anfernee Simons, the former Portland Trail Blazers guard who is on an expiring contract. For Manning, letting Simons start the season with the Celtics and perhaps even stay longer is a move that makes sense."There is a benefit to just letting a [guy's contract] expire," Manning said on the podcast. "You don't wanna bring back bad money from any deal that you're making for Simons. The whole point of bringing him in for Holiday in the first place was, Holiday was on three years, $100 million. Simons is one year, $28 million."Manning argued that the Celtics can actually achieve tangible effects on the hardcourt if they play the long game with Simons' contract (which will earn the 6-foot-3 guard $27,678,571 this year, as per Spotrac). He cited the example of a Western Conference playoff team last season."You saw it with the Clippers, who got nothing for Paul George," Manning pointed out. "They filled that salary slot with numerous good defensive players like Kris Dunn and a couple of other guys who led them to being one of the best defensive teams last year."Time will tell if Simons, who averaged 19.3 points per game on 42.6% shooting in the 2024-25 campaign, will end up playing significant minutes on the Celtics' rotation and convincing the team to keep him beyond this season."I love it in Boston": Celtics guard talks about signing $125.9 million extension with team last summerOne Celtics player who has already secured his future with the team is Derrick White. In a recent clip of his White Noise podcast, the one-time NBA champion and 2024 Olympic gold medalist talked about the factors that led to his decision to re-sign with Boston."Boston has been good. My kids were born in Boston, I kind of developed as a player in Boston," White said on his podcast. "It’s like, what's going to make me happy? And I knew that was going to be in Boston. I love it in Boston.”Daniel Donabedian @danield1214LINKDerrick White said signing an extension with the Celtics was a no-brainer: “Boston has been good. My kids were born in Boston, I kind of developed as a player in Boston…it’s like what's going to make me happy? And I knew that was going to be in Boston. I love it in Boston.”With Jayson Tatum sidelined for an extended period due to an Achilles injury, White will have an even bigger role to play for the Celtics in the upcoming season.