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I've made drawers out of maple and ash and both work well. But I often use eastern white pine for drawer sides and backs, which is pretty traditional in North America as a secondary wood. While it's weaker than hardwoods it's very dimensionnally stable. There's probably no single "best" wood for this.
All the species you suggest would work, though I might tend toward elm, ash or maple rather than basswood (though I have little experience with it other than for carving, and looking at strength numbers it's no weaker than the pine I already mentioned). If ash is cheap go for it - it's extremely strong and generally fairly easy to work.
As for the thickness of the sides, if I had 5/4 wood I'd resaw it, but if I had 3/4 inch thick stock I'd just use it as is rather than planing it down.
All the species you suggest would work, though I might tend toward elm, ash or maple rather than basswood (though I have little experience with it other than for carving, and looking at strength numbers it's no weaker than the pine I already mentioned). If ash is cheap go for it - it's extremely strong and generally fairly easy to work.
As for the thickness of the sides, if I had 5/4 wood I'd resaw it, but if I had 3/4 inch thick stock I'd just use it as is rather than planing it down.