At the podium: Jared Sullinger

Since the day he was drafted, Jared Sullinger's weight issues have followed him around like a dark cloud, and it wasn't until this summer that he actually decided to do something about it. But with a little tough love from both his family and John Lucas, the big man finally managed to shed some LBs over the offseason.

what was I thinking pic.twitter.com/5BHMzS368P

— Jared Sullinger (@Jared_Sully0) August 12, 2015

"John Lucas told me, 'You have all the talent in the world, but you forgot what working hard is,'" Sullinger said. "He (Lucas) cussed me out for shooting threes, told me to get down on the block."

Lucas' words were personified in the way Sully performed last season. He began taking more and more threes as the season wore on, gradually omitting his underrated post-play from his game almost entirely. With any luck, that should change this year, especially with this being the last year of his rookie deal.

There is still work to be done and Sullinger knows that, saying that he's in better shape but is not yet where he wants to be. The Celtics will surely be monitoring his progress throughout training camp.

Jared Sullinger said he's in better shape but not where he wants to be yet. pic.twitter.com/Lohr09a3M7

— Bill Doyle (@BillDoyle15) September 25, 2015