Once you've repotted and thinned it out it if it's kingsville or a similar variant it'll throw tons of buds all over the trunk. Looks like yours is already pretty green what temps are you all at? It may be time to repot now. I repotted mine last year in mid march here in NY but sheltered it from any temps below 45. Best to repot when it's green spring color is coming back, it'll turn orange/bronze/green in the winter.
Leave it in a sunny spot but not full sun all day, guard it from harsh early afternoon rays if possible. Maybe a garden tree shades it during that part of the day. It doesn't like overly acidic soil despite what you'll read on some websites, so go easy on any peat, pine bark.
It'll back bud everywhere even on old wood once you thin it out. Make sure to remove the buds which will cover your trunk if your not careful you won't have any trunk left even though it grows slowly if it's healthy it'll put a leaf out at every bud and cover your trunk. Better to catch the buds early so that the energy goes to only the buds you want to open.
Last year mine was moved from an anderson tray to a thin 1.5 inch pot, it dropped about 1/4 of it's leaves over the period of a month or two before it recovered. Be careful if you make big cuts, I have a large cut on mine thats been healing for 5+ years, it still has another year or two before it's closed! Other then that they're easy trees, keep an eye out for webs or spider mites though as they love these guys.
You can leave it outside till temps have been around 32 for a few weeks, don't let it fall below 25 though or you may get dieback. Never defoliate, it is an evergreen, a friend of mine was given one and cut off every leaf to reduce leaf size.
You can guess what happened.
======> 
