I think the L train has seen enough, he's going to come out with something to prove after the slump here.
I looked up all of their strength and training staff. All are at least in their 7th season and some going beyond 15 years. So whatever the reason, it seems unlikely the training staff. Maybe they changed their policies.
I haven't heard an update, but the "worst case scenario" initially put him to return two or three games before end of regular season play.
http://youtu.be/JARFA-S7MSM Barrett & Rice discussed Joel's knee yesterday, around 23 min mark of this I think. Said there's still "instability", but pain isn't an issue. That sounds like a toss up. He may not come back at all this year. The smart thing for him from a selfish perspective is to not risk it until it's 100% stable. His career is just getting started. Come back on an unstable knee to try and help the team & it blows out? He's got his whole career ahead of him.
Trail Blazers PR @TrailBlazersPR Portland F LaMarcus Aldridge (low back contusion) upgraded to probable for tonight's game at Atlanta. #RipCity