Warriors value continuity in pursuit of another championship

ATLANTA — By not making any moves at the trade deadline or on the buyout market, the Warriors reinforced one thing to the rest of the league: They’re comfortable chasing a third NBA title in four years with their current roster.

“We never really were in the buyout market in the first place,” Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said before Friday night’s game against the Hawks at Philips Arena. “It wasn’t even something I considered.”

With the playoffs little more than a month away, the Warriors sit a half-game behind the Rockets for the No. 1 overall seed. Being second in the Western Conference, however, hardly forced Golden State’s front office to make any rash decisions.

Though one of their biggest championship threats, Cleveland, overhauled its roster at the trade deadline, the Warriors held firm. General manager Bob Myers considered plenty of scenarios, only to determine that no feasible trade would have buoyed Golden State’s long- and short-term goals.

Myers then turned his focus to the buyout market, an area that has helped the Warriors in recent years. Joe Johnson and Marco Belinelli, both of whom Golden State had reportedly had interest in, signed elsewhere. Another elder statesman who had been linked to the Warriors, Joakim Noah, wasn’t bought out by the Knicks.

Johnson and Belinelli could have improved the Warriors’ three-point shooting off the bench, sure, but Myers knows that would hardly have changed the team’s bottom line. Golden State has been toward the bottom of the league in three-point shooting off the bench each of the past three seasons and has still reached the NBA Finals.

Had he been available, Noah — at 33, well past his prime — probably wouldn’t have been any more serviceable of a backup center than JaVale McGee. Now, with 20 regular-season games remaining, the Warriors are betting on the notion that a roster that includes 12 players from last year’s championship team will be enough to repeat.

Golden State has already made significant strides since entering the All-Star break in a 4-4 rut. It has won four games in a row, including last Saturday’s 112-80 rout of Oklahoma City.