BOSTON -- Jared Sullinger smiled wide, but wouldn't bite when asked if he'd dropped any weight this offseason.

"Maybe," a trimmer-looking Sullinger playfully offered Friday at the Hennigan Elementary School after leading some students through an afternoon hoops clinic as members of the Celtics organization joined more than 150 volunteers from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and City Year to revitalize the school's grounds. "I can’t tell you everything, but maybe."

Chris Forsberg/ESPN Boston

Jared Sullinger looked slimmer at Friday's community event in Jamaica Plain.The eye tests seems to suggest a more fit Sullinger, but the coy player only acknowledged that he's in a better place now further removed from the back surgery that stunted his rookie season and erased the offseason before his sophomore campaign.

Earlier this offseason, Sullinger expressed a desire to improve his conditioning with the goal of maintaining his production in the fourth quarter of games. But he's realistic when asked if he thinks that will happen this season.

"Only time will tell," said Sullinger. "Playing with a 24-second shot clock, going through training camp, going through games, back-to-backs, only time will tell. I can’t really commit to that statement until December."

Asked if he's met his offseason goals to this point, Sullinger said: "Not all the way, but still pushing towards them." Pressed on whether he's got a specific weight/conditioning goal for the start of training camp later this month, Sullinger playfully noted, "Me and [strength and conditioning coach Bryan Doo] have an understanding, so there you go."

One thing Sullinger can promise is that he'll be better than the start of camp last season as rehab from disc surgery had left him tentative.

"[Last summer] they shut me down," said Sullinger. "I couldn’t play until September. Full-blown basketball with contact, playing 1-on-1, things like that so I was kind of behind the 8-ball and stayed behind the 8-ball. This year, I’m in front of the 8-ball right now, hopefully going to hit the corner pocket so we’ll see."

Added Sullinger: "My biggest thing was health last year. I think I was a little afraid at the beginning of training camp, due to my back, the contact and all of that stuff. I was afraid what was going to happen in the middle of the season. But now I know what I can do, I know my back is going to hold up and, the beautiful thing about it is, that I have another year to show who Jared Sullinger can be."

So what can fans expect from Jared Sullinger this year?

“Nothing different," said Sullinger. "The biggest thing is to win. Last year was tough. We lost a lot of games and I know a lot of those guys on the team and the coaching staff, we are not used to losing like that. I think we are trying to change the culture."

A handful of leftover notes and quotes from Sullinger's Q&A with reporters:

• Basketball-heavy summer: Sullinger said he's spent most of his summer in his native Ohio, working with his father, Satch, Ohio State video coordinator Jake Diebler, and his best friend (and former Ohio State teammate) Evan Ravenel. Sullinger said that included some beach work in the sand to "help my explosiveness." But Sullinger said the most helpful workouts of the summer have simply been on the basketball court. "I played a lot of ball this summer between the Columbus Pro-Am, and open gyms with the overseas guys that come back to Columbus. I got a lot of basketball in this summer and it really helped."

• Ready to surprise: Echoing what Avery Bradley said last month, Sullinger believes the Celtics have the talent to be more competitive than most think. "Oh yeah, for sure. We have a lot of guys that can play multiple positions and at the same time, we have a lot of guys that can score the basketball. With us adding Marcus Thornton, Evan Turner, Tyler Zeller, I think those types of guys is only going to help us, not hurt us."

• Dancing in the rumors: During Boston's offseason pursuit of Kevin Love, Sullinger's name often came up as a potential piece of a return package. He brushed off having his name float in rumors. "You know what, summertime, I don’t pay attention to basketball, honestly. Summertime is all about yourself, as selfish as it sounds. You try to get yourself better to go into next season, regardless of where you’re at. With all of those things going on, I think my Mom, Dad and brothers knew more about that situation than I did because it was in one ear and out the other."

• In one ear, out the other: Those trade whispers often led to a discussion about Sullinger's future potential, a topic that's reverberated ever since he slid to the Celtics at No. 21 in the 2012 draft. "“Goes in one ear and out of the other. No disrespect to you all, but [I] don’t like y'all, don’t listen to y'all. I’m just being blunt and honest. All of the stuff I’ve heard about me, and what I can and can’t do -- who I can be, who I won’t be -- I just stopped listening to y'all a long time ago." Sullinger was asked if it adds fuel to his fire. "You can say that, but at the same time, I already have fuel in my fire, just because of everything that happened before my rookie year going into the draft. How I go from a top-5 pick to a top-10 pick to everyone saying I was going to fall into the second round. That’s why I love Boston so much. I go out and give it my all every game because they gave me a chance when a lot of other teams wouldn’t and that means the world to me and that’s the reason why being a Boston Celtic means so much to me."