The New Orleans Pelicans kick off their preseason on Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, allowing a look at what this squad is going to look like this season under new coach Jamahl Mosley and his staff.

While most of the excitement will be from how the starters look together and what this defense looks like, there are also a couple of people who need to use this opportunity to make an impact.

Here are the Pelicans who have the most to gain from a strong batch of games before the regular season begins:

Poole is someone who could help transform this team. He is an NBA champion who scored 18.5 points per game on that team. New Orleans hasn't gotten that Golden State Warriors version of him, though.

The 27-year-old was clearly not a fit for whatever the Pelicans had going on, when combined with him battling injuries, it was an ugly year that saw him out of the rotation at times. He posted 13.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists per night on 37.2/33.3/86.0 shooting splits.

Poole has a chance to start over with this new staff and remind people of what he can do. He'll need to do that to in order to win minutes back with Dejounte Murray and Jeremiah Fears both firmly ahead of him at that guard spot.

Johnson is likely entering a contract year with a looming $5 million option for next year that the team would have to accept before the end of the month. Given what happened with Jordan Hawkins, it would be shocking to see them accept it.

That means that the former first-round pick is going to need to make the most of whatever minutes he gets this year, starting with the preseason.

He needs to show that he can consistently hit threes. Right now, he's shooting 24.5% for his career, but he expects far better from himself. Along with that, this staff is going to be looking for defensive effort.

These three are being lumped in together, because they are currently the odd men out on the roster. Trendon Watford's contract doesn't gain it's next guarantee until Opening Day, but he is certainly a favorite to end up making the team. That puts the onus on the others to stand out and show why they should be the choice. They could also show off for their next teams, as well. Like with Johnson, they can't afford to waste any minutes.